Flowers for my Girl
by sakurafans
Summary: Syaoran refuses to deal with thought that his loved one is dead. Now he is on a life-threatning journey that will prove the strength of his soul. All for one girl. Sakura. **FINISHED**
1. Default Chapter

A/N- Magical_critter42 here! Hello everyone! Good day to you! This is my new story, Flowers for my Girl. This is the start of my third story... so yay! Don't worry, I'm going to continue my other stories, hopefully at a faster pace also. I hope that you enjoy this story, and please do review at the end. It means more to me than you'll ever know^-^.   
  
Summary- Syaoran refuses to deal with thought that his loved one is dead. Now he is on a life-threatning journey that will prove the strength of his soul. All for one girl. Sakura.   
  
Disclaimer----- I really do find disclaimers pointless. I mean, I OBVIOUSLY do not own Clamp or it's creations. They are not mine.... no matter how much I wish it^-^.   
  
Flowers for my Girl   
Chapter 1   
  
Syaoran knelt beside the gravestone holding back his unshed tears. 'Why did you have to die! I didn't even get the chance to tell you how much I loved you,' Syaoran thought bitterely.   
  
In his right hand he held four roses that he had bought from a nearby flower shop. In the other hand was the teddy bear that his beloved had given him. Setting the flowers on the ground, he gripped the teddy bear in a hard embrace. Knowing that he would start crying if he stayed any longer at the cemetery, Syaoran ran. He ran at his fastest speed trying to get out of the place where the dead lay.   
  
The gravestone had said:   
  
Sakura Kinomoto   
beloved daughter, sister, and friend   
1985-2001   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
Syaoran trudged to the hotel. He stared at the ground, kicking rocks out of his way. In his mind came a flashback of what happened after Sakura's funeral a few days earlier.   
  
~~Flashback~~   
  
The funeral was over. Syaoran was about to walk to the hotel when Touya touched his shoulder. Syaoran turned around to find a very depressed looking Touya.   
  
"Um.... what do you want?" Syaoran asked quietly.   
  
Touya sighed and said, "Ok. Here's the deal. No offense kid, but I never really liked you..."   
  
Syaoran glared at Touya, cutting him off, "Well, if you came here to tell me how much you don't like me... I get the point. I'm leaving..." he said.   
  
"No no no! That wasn't what I was trying to say. Sheesh, don't be so rude!" Touya said raising his voice. Syaoran was still glaring, but he wasn't mad, just slighty annoyed. Touya continued, "Anyways, what I was going to say, is thank you. Thank you for being there for Sakura."   
  
Once Syaoran heard Sakura's name, his face softened showing terrible grief. Touya noticed this at once and said, "Ya know, you should come over to my house right now. You just got here from China I know, to come to the funeral, but there are some things that I would like to tell you in private, if you don't mind."   
  
Syaoran's eyes raised as he said surprisedly, "Huh? Ok then."   
  
As they walked to the Kinomoto residence, Syaoran and Touya were in an awkward silence. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and loose petals floated freely in the air. Syaoran caught one in his hand and gazed at it longingly. 'Sakura, are you really dead? Nooo.. you can't be! I remember years ago... when I last saw you. So happy, so free. I never got to say I loved you.... Sakura.... my cherry blossom,' Syaoran thought with his heart aching.   
  
Touya and Syaoran reached the house. Touya opened the door and invited Syaoran in. Syaoran sat on the couch gazing at the different things around the house to hide his troubled mind. His mind was screaming to know why he was at the Kinomoto residence, about to have a normal conversation with a person who had hated him for years.Touya sat across from him and asked, "Would you like anything to drink?"   
  
Syaoran shook his head. Touya continued, "Very well. I know your wondering why I wanted to talk to you. Li-san, truthfully, I was always jealous of you. Sakura thought highly of you. I know that you two were were good friends. You protected her when I couldn't... things like that. Thanks a bunch."   
  
Syaoran was surprised. "Um, You're welcome. And thanks for the kind words... I know the death must be hard for you."   
  
Touya looked at the ground. "I'm crestfallen. I don't think that it has sunk in that my sister is dead. She CAN'T be dead, I mean... she was only 16. But, I know that she is in a good place. With our mother perhaps. Do you know how she died?" Touya asked.   
  
Syaoran replied, "No. I came last night from Hong Kong. I didn't get the full story..."   
  
Touya said, "Well, I know it may be morbid talking about it... but you should know. The truth is that no one really knows how she died. Sakura was found lying dead in an alley. The doctors say that all the life was drained out of her. Even they don't get what caused Sakura do die like that. But in her had were two cards. The doctors gave them to me and I'd like to show them to you..."   
  
Touya's voice was slowly starting to crack up. Bottling up emotions of his sisters death was too much for him. Syaoran ignored it. In his heart, he was dead, as much as Sakura was, even though she was lying in the ground and he wasn't.   
  
Sakura's older brother handed Syaoran two cards. Syaoran showed no emotion, but he was in shock. They were Sakura Cards, the Light and the Dark, but they no longer had Sakura's name written on them. The two ladies were in a peaceful sleep, as always, and showed no signs of life. "You said that Sakura was found with these two cards?" Syaoran said with a shaky voice.   
  
Touya replied, "Yes. Is there a problem? Does Sakura's death have to do with them?"   
  
Syaoran shook his head rapidly. "No, no problem. Um... could I keep this for a little while? I doubt that a card could cause Sakura's life to drain away," Syaoran said quickly, lying about what he thought.   
  
Touya gave Syaoran a suspicious look. "Chinese gaki doesn't deserve anything that belonged to Sakura," Touya said sharply. But he continued in a softer tone, "But, I'm sure that Sakura wouldn't have minded. If you want to look upstairs, feel free."   
  
Syaoran nodded and said a brief thanks. He walked swiftly to Sakura's room. The door was closed. For a second, Syaoran paused. Then he walked in.   
  
The room had a musky scent. It smelled like Sakura, only empty. Syaoran held back tears. 'I've got to be strong. Strong, for Sakura's sake,' Syaoran thought. Memories of when he was in Sakura's room while she was alive shot through Syaoran's mind, toubling him greatly. He remembered when he switched bodies with Kero, and how he couldn't help but watch Sakura all through the night in the little form, as she slept soundly. 'I wonder where that stuffed animal is now,' Syaoran thought.   
  
Going threw drawer after drawer, Syaoran found what he was looking for. The Sakura book, which was once the Clow Book. Kero was back on the cover. Syaoran took the book and went back downstairs. Looking in Sakura's room made Syaoran's already broken heart, break even more.   
  
Touya was downstairs waiting. Tears were welling up in his eyes as he said, "Goodbye Li-san."   
  
Syaoran paused. Though he greatly disliked Sakura's big brother he said kindly, "Don't worry. As you said, Sakura is in a better place. And, I know that you were a great brother to her."   
  
Touya nodded and Syaoran left, holding the book in his arm.   
  
Taking the book to the hotel, Syaoran thought to himself. 'How did Sakura die? The Light and the Dark card? They must have something to do with it.... hm...'   
  
Once Syaoran was safetly in his hotel room, he set the book on the bed. Getting right to business, Syaoran said to the book, "Keroberos! You best not be asleep! Show yourself! Get out of that book!"   
  
Seemingly Kero had heard him. In the form of a stuffed animal, Kero slowly emerged out of the book. "What do you want?" Kero asked sorrowfully.   
  
Syaoran said mildly, "You went back into the book already?"   
  
Kero sighed and replied, "The cards have been captured. Sakura is dead. Therefore, I have to do my job. Guard the cards and protect them from anyone who tries to open the book."   
  
Syaoran glared at Kero and retorted, "Not all the cards are in the book! Didn't you realize that?!"   
  
Kero raised his eyebrows and wistfully said, "Oh really? I bet they all are here. Who do you think you are, making the wonderful Keroberos get out of the book?"   
  
Syaoran smirked and held up the Light Card and the Dark Card.   
  
Kero's jaw dropped open. "Gimme those!!"   
  
"Stuffed animal, what a GREAT job you are doing with these cards! Don't you see? It was THESE cards that killed Sakura! And look here! Sakura's name is not on them!" Syaoran said angrily.   
  
Kero sighed and said neutrally, "Naturally Sakura's name is not on them, she's dead. They are Sakura Cards but are not personally owned by her anymore. The same thing happened when Clow-San had died. Those cards couldn't have killed Sakura though, because she had control of them. Give me the cards and leave!"   
  
Syaoran shook his head. "No... I KNOW that she died because of these cards."   
  
Kero took on his real shape. Wings encovered him and he became Keroberos. "Give me the damn cards!" Keroberos said as he jumped on Syaoran. Taking the cards out of Syaoran's hard grip, Keroberos returned to the shape of a stuffed animal.   
  
He carefully put the cards into the book and returned to the angry Li. "Look, Sakura's dead. It kills me to say it, but she is. There is nothing that we can do. If these cards killed Sakura as you say, then it is even better that we keep these cards guarded. I will never let anyone get ahold of them, believe me. Now... leave me be," Kero said. By now he was crying and went back into the book.   
  
Syaoran sighed. Setting the book down in a drawer as to keep it safe, Syaoran fell asleep on the bed, surrenduring his thoughts into the dreamworld.   
  
~~End Flashback~~   
  
Syaoran took a deep breath. "It's over. Sakura is really dead. There is nothing I can do about it except move on," he said out loud, as if to reassure himself. Admitting the facts, and living with it. But the words sounded flat. Syaoran couldn't believe it.   
Even though Sakura died from unnatural circumstances, it didn't change anything. Either way she was dead. 'Dead, dead, dead, dead...' the word repeated itself in his mind.   
  
Suddenly, Syaoran burst. He yelled out to the open sky above him, "I WILL find a way, Sakura. I will you bring you back."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~   
A/N- SOOOOOOO... what did ya think of my new story?? Love it, hate it? Please review~^-^ Ok, this IS and S+S story, so no worries. After all, I'm a crazy obssessed S+S fan^-^. Please please please review. I wanna know if anyone thinks that this is worth continuing. And don't worry, I can handle writing three stories :P.... Where is Melin and Tomoyo? And what is the significance of the Light and the Dark card?? That'll be in the next chapters!^-^ Thanks to all my readers out there, whether I'm aware of you or not. The thought that someone out there is reading and enjoying my stories gives me great inspiration and joy. Love ya lots, ttfn! Bye for now!! 


	2. Default Chapter

A/N- Hiya ppl! I finally got this chapter out.. yay! *does a happy dance* er... yeah. Thanks to all those that reviewed, I appreciated it! Love ya lots! Have fun reading! I don't want to jinx myself to this... but Destruction of Time will probably be out next^-^.  
  
Flowers for my Girl-Chapter 2  
  
Syaoran sat on his bed with his legs stretched out at two in the morning. All night he had been looking through his magic books to find something that would bring back Sakura from the dead.... and stilll he found nothing. Books lay strewn around him, an endless amount of reading material.   
  
"Damn it!" he silently swore.  
  
Flipping through endless pages of worthless information was making him feel sick and tired. 'Give up,' his mind told him. But deep in his heart, he knew he must go on.   
  
"Healing sickness.... nope. Healing mental pain... nope. Healing.... the dead. What? Healing the dead?" Syaoran said with his eyebrows raised. Then he read the passage under healing the dead. "Healing dead is not possible. After all... they are dead."   
  
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Syaoran screamed in frustration. Throwing the book across the room, he felt a feeling that was pretty new to him. Being helpless. Not having the power to do something...  
  
Beginning to losing hope, Syaoran fell asleep before he could think another thought....  
  
.... and woke up to bird's chirping on his outside window.  
  
'Why are birds chirping when such awful things happen? Why does the sun keep shining? It shouldn't be such a cheerful looking day. The sky should dark and gloomy, and the birds should shut up on their crazy noises,' Syaoran thought to himself.  
  
Looking at the digital clock beside him, Syaoran was amused to see that it was 10 o'clock. He groaned inwardly and raised himself to a sitting up position. Hanging his legs over the bed, Syaoran sighed.   
  
As if some force was pulling him, Syaoran quickly jumped off his bed. His messy chestnut brown hair matted on top of his head while his wrinkled clothes from the night before encased his body. Stomping to the bathroom, Syaoran cleaned his teeth and got ready for the day before him.   
  
'I still have a few books left... I will give all my heart into finding a way to bring Sakura back from the dead. Nothing will bring me down!' Syaoran thought with renwed firey strength in his heart.   
  
His mind was strong with his greatly needed rest. Looking through the rest of the books he finally stumbled upon what he wanted.  
  
He read aloud a book entry to himself, "Bringing back the dead."  
  
"Bringing back the dead is one of the many wishes that a person desires. For centuries, people have looked for ways of bringing back the dead. If a person died of natural causes, there is no way of bringing back that person from the dead, for they have reached a greater happiness beyond the grave. But if a person died because of magical purposes, then there is a small hope for the mourning heart. For it is said that a person can say a spell and go on a journey to retrieve the body and soul of their loved one. The only problem is is that no one has ever survived through this incredible test of strength and the facts of bringing back the dead are still questioned."  
  
Syaoran took a deap breath. In his mind he thought, 'I'm pretty sure that Sakura died because of the two cards.... that is a magical purpose! Perhaps I can go on this mission to bring her back!'   
  
Reading further in the book Syaoran read aloud, "There are other requirements to bringing back the dead. First, you need to be near the body. If the person has been buried, then above their burial place is ok. That is where the spell will take place. The objects of the spell are as follows:  
--Magical source  
--Blood of person going on the journey  
--Proof of love  
  
These are the three items needed. With the items ready, approach the grave. Pour a few drops of blood on the soil of grave of the dead one. On top of that, put proof of the magical source of which the dead one died. With your proof of love, pour your heart onto the grave. Then say, 'I call upon dead. Give me my chance to bring back (persons name).' Immediatly, somthing out of the normal will occur. These occurances are not not detailed, being as being raised from the dead has not been worked."  
  
'Huh?' Syaoran asked his mind. Some of the words were riddles to him. 'What the heck is, "raindrops of a person"? And what do I do for a magical source?' Syaoran thought puzzled.   
  
Suddenly the thought of magical source came to him. "I got it! Magical source that killed Sakura! It was.... the Clow Cards!! So all I have to do is bring the Light and Dark card with me to the grace. Now... for proof of love, I will just proclaim my love over the buried body!" he yelled assuredly to the open air in front of him.  
  
Syaoran felt renewed hope. But then he remembered that Kero was holding the Clow Cards. 'Stupid me... I should have never given up those cards...'  
  
He couldn't waste time though. So Syaoran immediatly got the Sakura book out and called out for Keroberos, "Keroberos! Come out of your sleep! Come to me! I call you forth! Dumb stuffed animal!!!!!! Show yourself!!!!!!!!!!!"   
  
Slowly, Kero raised out of the book, eyes closed. As soon as he was fully out of the book, the stuffed animal popped his eyes open to show pure rage in his eyes. "Damn you, Li brat!! Get the hell outta here!! Did you not hear me straight when I said... 'Leave me be?!' Ya know, I don't see why Sakura even looked your way... you're an annoying, pesky..."  
  
Syaoran cut in. "Quiet doll! Listen, I need the Light and the Dark card! I promise I will give them back...."  
  
But Kero cut off Syaoran's speech by saying, "Hahahaha! Like I would give you the most two powerful cards in the book! Or even any card! I'm an guardian of these cards! And then you dare call me a doll! No respect! No, kid, I don't owe you anything."  
  
Syaoran's eyes hardened. He yelled, "You don't deserve respect either! Look at you! Calling me annoying and pesky! Listen, ok? I just want the cards to HELP Sakura. I am not going to tell you how I'm going to help her, but I will. And I am perfectly qualified to take care of the cards, I helped Sakura catch them. Without me, she wouldn't not have finished the ordeal and you know it. And anyways, I will never leave you alone till I have those two cards!"  
  
Kero knew that Syaoran spoke the truth. Sighing, he replied, "Well, if you'd never leave me alone.... I guess that I mine as well give you the two cards. But you must bring them back within a reasonable amount of time. And if you don't come back or if something happens and you lose the cards I will hunt you down. Got that?!"  
  
Syaoran breathed in a breath of release. "Thank you, thank you!" he murmured.  
  
Kero reached into the book and pulled out the two cards, the Light and the Dark. Passing them to Syaoran, his paws trembled. "Whatever you are going to do... be careful. To lose more people to the tragedy of death is ridiculus!" he said with a slight smile towards Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened. Quietly he replied, "You're a good guardian, Keroberos. Thank you for the kind words." Taking the cards in his hand, Syaoran swiftly walked of the room.  
  
Kero decided that he would wait for Syaoran outside of the book. Sitting in midair, he pondered what he would do for the day. 'Too bad the Li kid doesn't have any videogames...' he thought to himself.  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Syaoran rushed to the grave of Sakura Kinomoto. Kneeling in front of the gravestone Syaoran planned what he was going to do carefully. Taking out his pocket knife, he slit the palm of his hand. Wincing, Syaoran squeezed a few drops of blood onto the dirt below him. Then he took the two cards out of his pocket and propped them against the gravestone of the grave. "Please let this work! I love you so very much Sakura! More than anything else in the world!" Then he yelled, "I call upon dead. Give me my chance to bring back Sakura Kinomoto!!"   
  
Nothing happened. Syaoran sweatdropped and once again yelled, "I call upon the dead!! Give me my chance to bring back Sakura Kinomoto!!"  
  
And yet nothing happened. "Dammit! Come on! I call upon the dead! I want Sakura Kinomoto back from the dead!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed in fury.   
  
The earth was still. Syaoran ran over the list of what he was suppose to do in his head. 'I did everything he was suppose to!' Syaoran thought helplessly.  
  
Suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore. He started crying. The past few days he had kept his heart strong by not crying for the one he loved because he thought he could bring her back. That it wasn't truly over by Sakura's death. He wanted to be strong for Sakura, strong for himself. But now he realized the awful truth. This whole time he was in denial... not accepting the death of the one he loved and not mourning for her. Syaoran let a few of his teardrops touch the ground before he speedily stood up and ran away. He ran and ran still crying over Sakura. His legs forced him out of the cemetery and back to his hotel.  
  
Meanwhile, the grave he left of Sakura Kinomoto suddenly moved. The gravel started to shake rapidly....  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
A/N- Sooooooo how was it? Yeah yeah... I know it is a cliffhanger... but I wanted it to end like that. I hope that you enjoyed it! There really isn't much to say about this chapter, hehe. Please review! I love reviews! Hehehehe.... bye for now! 


	3. Default Chapter

A/N- Hiya ppl! I finally got this chapter out.. yay! *does a happy dance* er... yeah. Thanks to all those that reviewed, I appreciated it! Love ya lots! Have fun reading! I don't want to jinx myself to this... but Destruction of Time will probably be out next^-^.  
  
Flowers for my Girl-Chapter 2  
  
Syaoran sat on his bed with his legs stretched out at two in the morning. All night he had been looking through his magic books to find something that would bring back Sakura from the dead.... and stilll he found nothing. Books lay strewn around him, an endless amount of reading material.   
  
"Damn it!" he silently swore.  
  
Flipping through endless pages of worthless information was making him feel sick and tired. 'Give up,' his mind told him. But deep in his heart, he knew he must go on.   
  
"Healing sickness.... nope. Healing mental pain... nope. Healing.... the dead. What? Healing the dead?" Syaoran said with his eyebrows raised. Then he read the passage under healing the dead. "Healing dead is not possible. After all... they are dead."   
  
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Syaoran screamed in frustration. Throwing the book across the room, he felt a feeling that was pretty new to him. Being helpless. Not having the power to do something...  
  
Beginning to losing hope, Syaoran fell asleep before he could think another thought....  
  
.... and woke up to bird's chirping on his outside window.  
  
'Why are birds chirping when such awful things happen? Why does the sun keep shining? It shouldn't be such a cheerful looking day. The sky should dark and gloomy, and the birds should shut up on their crazy noises,' Syaoran thought to himself.  
  
Looking at the digital clock beside him, Syaoran was amused to see that it was 10 o'clock. He groaned inwardly and raised himself to a sitting up position. Hanging his legs over the bed, Syaoran sighed.   
  
As if some force was pulling him, Syaoran quickly jumped off his bed. His messy chestnut brown hair matted on top of his head while his wrinkled clothes from the night before encased his body. Stomping to the bathroom, Syaoran cleaned his teeth and got ready for the day before him.   
  
'I still have a few books left... I will give all my heart into finding a way to bring Sakura back from the dead. Nothing will bring me down!' Syaoran thought with renwed firey strength in his heart.   
  
His mind was strong with his greatly needed rest. Looking through the rest of the books he finally stumbled upon what he wanted.  
  
He read aloud a book entry to himself, "Bringing back the dead."  
  
"Bringing back the dead is one of the many wishes that a person desires. For centuries, people have looked for ways of bringing back the dead. If a person died of natural causes, there is no way of bringing back that person from the dead, for they have reached a greater happiness beyond the grave. But if a person died because of magical purposes, then there is a small hope for the mourning heart. For it is said that a person can say a spell and go on a journey to retrieve the body and soul of their loved one. The only problem is is that no one has ever survived through this incredible test of strength and the facts of bringing back the dead are still questioned."  
  
Syaoran took a deap breath. In his mind he thought, 'I'm pretty sure that Sakura died because of the two cards.... that is a magical purpose! Perhaps I can go on this mission to bring her back!'   
  
Reading further in the book Syaoran read aloud, "There are other requirements to bringing back the dead. First, you need to be near the body. If the person has been buried, then above their burial place is ok. That is where the spell will take place. The objects of the spell are as follows:  
--Magical source  
--Blood of person going on the journey  
--Proof of love  
  
These are the three items needed. With the items ready, approach the grave. Pour a few drops of blood on the soil of grave of the dead one. On top of that, put proof of the magical source of which the dead one died. With your proof of love, pour your heart onto the grave. Then say, 'I call upon dead. Give me my chance to bring back (persons name).' Immediatly, somthing out of the normal will occur. These occurances are not not detailed, being as being raised from the dead has not been worked."  
  
'Huh?' Syaoran asked his mind. Some of the words were riddles to him. 'What the heck is, "raindrops of a person"? And what do I do for a magical source?' Syaoran thought puzzled.   
  
Suddenly the thought of magical source came to him. "I got it! Magical source that killed Sakura! It was.... the Clow Cards!! So all I have to do is bring the Light and Dark card with me to the grace. Now... for proof of love, I will just proclaim my love over the buried body!" he yelled assuredly to the open air in front of him.  
  
Syaoran felt renewed hope. But then he remembered that Kero was holding the Clow Cards. 'Stupid me... I should have never given up those cards...'  
  
He couldn't waste time though. So Syaoran immediatly got the Sakura book out and called out for Keroberos, "Keroberos! Come out of your sleep! Come to me! I call you forth! Dumb stuffed animal!!!!!! Show yourself!!!!!!!!!!!"   
  
Slowly, Kero raised out of the book, eyes closed. As soon as he was fully out of the book, the stuffed animal popped his eyes open to show pure rage in his eyes. "Damn you, Li brat!! Get the hell outta here!! Did you not hear me straight when I said... 'Leave me be?!' Ya know, I don't see why Sakura even looked your way... you're an annoying, pesky..."  
  
Syaoran cut in. "Quiet doll! Listen, I need the Light and the Dark card! I promise I will give them back...."  
  
But Kero cut off Syaoran's speech by saying, "Hahahaha! Like I would give you the most two powerful cards in the book! Or even any card! I'm an guardian of these cards! And then you dare call me a doll! No respect! No, kid, I don't owe you anything."  
  
Syaoran's eyes hardened. He yelled, "You don't deserve respect either! Look at you! Calling me annoying and pesky! Listen, ok? I just want the cards to HELP Sakura. I am not going to tell you how I'm going to help her, but I will. And I am perfectly qualified to take care of the cards, I helped Sakura catch them. Without me, she wouldn't not have finished the ordeal and you know it. And anyways, I will never leave you alone till I have those two cards!"  
  
Kero knew that Syaoran spoke the truth. Sighing, he replied, "Well, if you'd never leave me alone.... I guess that I mine as well give you the two cards. But you must bring them back within a reasonable amount of time. And if you don't come back or if something happens and you lose the cards I will hunt you down. Got that?!"  
  
Syaoran breathed in a breath of release. "Thank you, thank you!" he murmured.  
  
Kero reached into the book and pulled out the two cards, the Light and the Dark. Passing them to Syaoran, his paws trembled. "Whatever you are going to do... be careful. To lose more people to the tragedy of death is ridiculus!" he said with a slight smile towards Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened. Quietly he replied, "You're a good guardian, Keroberos. Thank you for the kind words." Taking the cards in his hand, Syaoran swiftly walked of the room.  
  
Kero decided that he would wait for Syaoran outside of the book. Sitting in midair, he pondered what he would do for the day. 'Too bad the Li kid doesn't have any videogames...' he thought to himself.  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Syaoran rushed to the grave of Sakura Kinomoto. Kneeling in front of the gravestone Syaoran planned what he was going to do carefully. Taking out his pocket knife, he slit the palm of his hand. Wincing, Syaoran squeezed a few drops of blood onto the dirt below him. Then he took the two cards out of his pocket and propped them against the gravestone of the grave. "Please let this work! I love you so very much Sakura! More than anything else in the world!" Then he yelled, "I call upon dead. Give me my chance to bring back Sakura Kinomoto!!"   
  
Nothing happened. Syaoran sweatdropped and once again yelled, "I call upon the dead!! Give me my chance to bring back Sakura Kinomoto!!"  
  
And yet nothing happened. "Dammit! Come on! I call upon the dead! I want Sakura Kinomoto back from the dead!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed in fury.   
  
The earth was still. Syaoran ran over the list of what he was suppose to do in his head. 'I did everything he was suppose to!' Syaoran thought helplessly.  
  
Suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore. He started crying. The past few days he had kept his heart strong by not crying for the one he loved because he thought he could bring her back. That it wasn't truly over by Sakura's death. He wanted to be strong for Sakura, strong for himself. But now he realized the awful truth. This whole time he was in denial... not accepting the death of the one he loved and not mourning for her. Syaoran let a few of his teardrops touch the ground before he speedily stood up and ran away. He ran and ran still crying over Sakura. His legs forced him out of the cemetery and back to his hotel.  
  
Meanwhile, the grave he left of Sakura Kinomoto suddenly moved. The gravel started to shake rapidly....  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
A/N- Sooooooo how was it? Yeah yeah... I know it is a cliffhanger... but I wanted it to end like that. I hope that you enjoyed it! There really isn't much to say about this chapter, hehe. Please review! I love reviews! Hehehehe.... bye for now! 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- Finally! Chapter 4! Sorry it took so long, but being that this is the vacation… I'm back into the groove with updating.   
  
Here's a fill in for what happened in the last chapters if you forgot:   
- Sakura dies.  
- Syaoran finds out that her death was mysteriously caused by the LIGHT and DARK card, so he decides that with that, he will be able to bring her back from the dead.  
- Syaoran finds a spell, and performs it to bring back Sakura from the dead. Sakura does not appear, but a man named Shing arrives.   
- Shing answers Syaoran's questions and says that through tests, Sakura could be revived. The only problem is is that no one has survived the tests.  
- Syaoran decides to go on with the first test of many…  
  
Ok, that was a real basic summary. If you don't remember, please read back because some things are going to be of importance later. Enjoy the chapter!  
Note to anima mouse: lol! I never thought about it like Charmed! Well, it's too late to change it, but tween would have been funny!  
  
  
Flowers for my Girl-Chapter 4  
  
Syaoran stared at Sakura's gravestone for a few seconds before asking Shing, "So… when does the test begin? And when do I get to see Sakura?"  
  
Shing, who had been staring absently at the sky around him, turn to look at Syaoran and said, "I thought you finished with your questions. You'll see Sakura soon enough."  
  
"Ok… one more question. Why do you where those sunglasses? It's not bright outside…"  
  
Shing laughed and replied, "Are you getting nervous? I don't blame you… after all, no one has ever survived the tests. Actually, no one has ever even accomplished finishing the first task…"  
  
Syaoran glared at Shing and replied, "Thanks for the support. Are we just going to stand here all day?"  
  
Shaking his head Shing replied, "The test has already begun…"  
  
"Wah??" Syaoran replied. But before he could question Shing anymore, Shing was gone. Turning around a few times, Syaoran searched for him. Behind the gravestone, in the tree, running out of the cemetery, Shing was nowhere to be seen. 'The test has already begun? But I'm still in the cemetery! And nothing has happened!' Syaoran thought to himself. 'Oh well, I'll just make the best of this, after all… I should be thankful that the first test doesn't consist of some big monster that is trying to kill me!'  
  
Now concentrating on the world around him, Syaoran focused his energy on what he should do for a plan. Then he noticed what was wrong. The cemetery had been shunned into silence. The willow trees no longer whispered there sorrows to him, bugs weren't chirping, and the air was dead.  
  
'Something is wrong,' Syaoran thought to himself. 'Where is the creatures? The silence is dreadful!'   
  
And his search begun. Syaoran walked through the graveyard, contemplating the meaning of the test he had entered.   
  
Out of nowhere a big green monster flew towards Syaoran. 'So much for the thought on the big beast trying to kill me!'  
  
But Syaoran was quick to his senses. He couldn't help but stare in surprise at the horrifying creature before him. He was colored with slime green, and had piercing red eyes. There was a long line of yellow/ brown drool coming from its mouth with large decaying yellow teeth. It stood on its four paws, with black nails popping out. Its fur was matted in many spots, no parts were smooth.  
  
"Disgusting," Syaoran muttered under his breath.  
  
The green beast seemed to understand what he said because he chose that moment to lung at Syaoran.   
  
Just in time, Syaoran jumped out of the way. But the monster lunged again and ripped Syaoran's shirt with it's claws. A long gash of blood ran down from his shoulder to the bottom of his arm as he cursed loudly.   
  
Syaoran dropped to the ground, clutching his arm. "Damn!" he said repeatedly. The beast was coming again. It's paws were striking the ground as a bull does when it about to charge in rage.  
  
With effort, Syaoran stood up. 'I don't have my sword!' Syaoran thought, the terrible realization burning brightly in his mind.  
  
Not only did he not have his sword, but his magic papers weren't with him either. For a few seconds Syaoran thought about running to his apartment and grabbing it, but that would mean that the beast would follow him through town and scare the citizens. Also, he would lose the strength he needed for his other tests.   
  
Then a light bulb flashed in front of his face. He had an idea! Syaoran lunged for a tree and grabbed the closest branch. Then he ripped the branch out of the tree to use as a weapon. 'Better than nothing I suppose,' Syaoran thought.  
  
The branch that Syaoran happened to pull out of the tree happened to be one of the largest on the tree. It didn't have any leaves on it, but a sharp point at the end. It was a couple inches thick and perfect for a short term use weapon.  
  
Once the beast was about to lunge towards Syaoran again, Syaoran got into a ready position. And predictably, the beast flew towards Syaoran.   
  
In a quick instant, Syaoran flipped out of the way with ease and pushed the branch into the beast. The beast yelped in fury, and sunk for a few seconds towards the ground. Thick black ooze flowed from the beast's side, where it was hurt. For a few seconds the beast whimpered, but he soon stood up, the branch still in its side.  
  
Syaoran gazed at the beast in amazement. The beast ran towards Syaoran, with angry hate in its eyes. It wanted payback for the wound it had received.   
  
Running towards Syaoran, Syaoran noticed the black blood still pouring down its side. The monster was badly wounded, and though it tried to look tough, it was slowly dying.  
  
The beast ran at an utterly fast speed towards Syaoran. The blood from Syaoran's wound was still running freely, and he was starting to feel his energy slip. Syaoran waited for the beast to get closer. At the last moment, when the beast attacked, Syaoran yet again pushed out of the way. Then he kicked his foot as hard as he could into the branch at the beast's side. The branch dug deeper into the beast.  
  
The beast stopped immediately in its tracks and fell to the ground. By now the black blood was creeping out of its skin quickly. The green beast shuddered in pain and finally took his last intake of breath.  
  
Syaoran sighed in relief and fell to the ground. He gasped for air and waited for the next test or Shing to arrive. But neither happened. Syaoran waited for about five minutes. The beast was most definitely dead and yet there was no result. The air was still dead though, and the sky was becoming downcast.   
  
Finally, Syaoran's patience became lost. He stood up, feeling great pain, and walked over towards Sakura's grave. 'I don't get it… that MUST have been the test! What else is there to it?'  
  
Syaoran knelt at Sakura's grave. Looking up, he noticed a door behind her gravestone. It was painted a deep gray to match the stone. Syaoran blinked a few times thinking, 'Is my eyes playing tricks on me? There was never a door there!'   
  
Syaoran stood up struggling and walked to the door. All that stood there was a door. The door was gray with engraved flowers on the edges. In the center there was a keyhole, and an insignia decorated around it. There was no place to which the door seemingly went to, but it was definitely not suppose to be there. Syaoran tried to open the door and was dismayed to find it locked.   
  
Shaking his head, Syaoran gave up after a few pulls. His mind was being to become panicked. 'What if I die trying to find out how to end this miserable test? That means that Sakura will stay dead! All this would be for nothing!' Syaoran's mind said forcefully.  
  
In desperation, Syaoran walked over to the dead beast. He hoped that perhaps there would be some clue as to how to end his test. Syaoran had a distinct feeling that the mysterious door would have to do with his first test. After all, if it was out of the ordinary, then it most likely had something to do with the test.  
  
Syaoran knelt on his knees next to the green creature and black blood. It's abnormal body was beginning to decay as Syaoran looked at it. But there were no signs of how to get past the door.   
  
Gazing at the monster in disgust, Syaoran thought, 'Stupid ugly beast. First I kill you and then nothing happens. This is a stupid test, I don't see how this can help Sakura any.' Syaoran grimaced, for he was still bleeding excessively.  
  
After a few seconds, Syaoran decided to go home and clean himself up and arm himself properly for whatever the next test would be. From there, he would come back to the graveyard and try to figure out what part of the puzzle he was missing.   
  
The beast began to disappear as Syaoran trudged back to his apartment. In place of the beast, a key was born. It glowed in the sunlight, power radiating next to it.   
  
Once Syaoran was completely gone, Shing came out from behind a tree, appearing once again. He picked up the key and held it in the pal of his hand, studying its glowing radiance.   
  
"Quite a pretty key," he said. "Too bad that boy didn't stay to go onto the next test. That must mean that he gave up…"  
  
  
A/N- Oooooooh, Ahhhhh, what happens next? Lol, you and me both know that Syaoran did not give up, but what will Shing say? Eh heh heh, you'll find out soon! Please review! The more reviews, the sooner I will right this! And thanks to Angel for telling me to write this, it's been a while, and I nearly forgot about this story! =P Bye for now! If you're bored check out Norishna Chaos!^_^ 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- So I write chapter 5 as soon as I could, so that I wouldn't lose my readers. I figure that I've already lost most of them, but I need to keep the ones I have, for I appreciate you all! Do review after reading, please! To those who reviewed, arigato gazaimasu! I feel so happy! I'm sure you're sick of hearing my freakiness, so here is the story!  
  
  
Flowers for my Girl-Chapter 5  
  
Syaoran walked back to the apartment as fast as his very worn out mind could take him, clutching his bloody arm, in attempt to hide it from the people that he was passing by. So far, it wasn't working well. Some people had stopped him to ask if he needed help or assistance. Syaoran was grateful, but he was on a mission. He had to get home and prepare himself for the next test that Shing would assign.  
  
Once Syaoran made it back to his apartment, he threw himself at the door, for support. He heard from the inside the room a voice say, "Oh! Is that the food I ordered? Just leave it at the door please!"  
  
Syaoran shook his head and took out his key. He was about to unlock the door, when Kero unexpectedly opened the door. Syaoran fell into his room and onto the ground, muttering under his breath.  
  
"It's just you, I thought that it was going to be the food that I ordered at the door," Kero said without concern to the huddled boy below his flying body.   
  
With effort, Syaoran stood up, holding onto the wall with one arm, and his arm with the other hand. Slowly, he made his way into the bathroom where he began to clean his bloody wound.   
  
After seeing the blood, Kero gasped and said, "What have you been doing? What happened to the cards I'm waiting for? Are you ok?"  
  
"I'm ok, Kero. I'm sorry, but I don't have the cards. They are still at the graveyard. I'll go back and try to get them in a few minutes."  
  
Kero shook his head in wonder. "What happened? What did you do with those cards?"  
  
Syaoran ignored all of what Kero was saying and shut the door, deep into his own thoughts. 'I don't get it. Where was the key? How come I can't get past the door in the middle of nowhere?' The wound was slowly being cleansed as Syaoran thought of possible ways to solve his problem on his next arrival to Sakura's tomb. 'Wait!! When I asked Shing if he could give me assistance, he said that he probably could, based on the situation! Why didn't I think of it before?! I should have asked him for help once I beat the monster!' Then aloud Syaoran said, "UGH! I'm so stupid!"  
  
From outside the bathroom, Kero replied, "I agree! Whatever you are involved with, it sure is a problem, because that's one ugly wound!"  
  
After a few moments, Syaoran exited the bathroom with a towel tied around his arm, to stop the bleeding. He looked a bit more refreshed, but it was as if he had a lot on his mind, which he did.  
  
Syaoran began to pack his sword and magic papers. He was about to leave again for the cemetery and was at the doorknob, when Kero flew in front of him and stopped him.  
  
"What do you think you're doing? I'm not going to let you leave without an explanation! What happened at the graveyard? Why aren't the cards back? Tell me!" Kero yelled.  
  
"Why should I?" Syaoran yelled back, obviously not in a good mood because of his injury and the fact that he hadn't yet gone onto the second test.  
  
"Because… because… It's my problem too! Those cards belong to me now! And you have taken them away! I want to know where they are at. Besides, I'm worried about what you are getting into. If anything bad happened to you, I would feel terrible because I could have stopped it by not giving you those cards!" Kero said, in attempt to vent out his emotions that he cared about Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran noticed Kero's caring attitude, and let go of the doorknob. He walked over to his bed and sat down. Kero smiled and flew next to Syaoran in triumph.   
  
Sighing, Syaoran began to tell the story of his attempt to revive Sakura. He began with the way he studied his books, and found the perfect spell. Then he told Kero about how he had performed the spell, and at first, it didn't seem to work. But then Shing appeared and the test to bring back Sakura from the dead began. Syaoran told Kero that he killed the beast, and a door appeared, but he couldn't find the key. Throughout the story, Kero held his paw to his chin in concentration.  
  
After Syaoran's story was finished, he sighed deeply, happy to get the load of emotions off his chest. He fell into his bed, exhausted. But then he was startled by Kero, who yelled into his face in anger.  
  
"What the hell did you think you were doing? Trying to bring back Sakura from the dead?! That's dangerous! Shing said that no one had survived the tests? What makes you think that you'll survive the rest of the tests? You are crazy!"  
  
"Shing told me that Sakura wasn't in heaven. She isn't in any type of paradise because she was killed by magic. For all eternity she is going to be there! There is no way that I will allow that to happen! If I can bring her back, I'll take my chances and try! Sakura has been everything to me, and I can't let her suffer where she is for eternity to come!" Syaoran said passionately, sitting up, arguing at Kero.  
  
Kero nodded and smiled. "That's touching… but you're still crazy! The last test nearly killed you, and that's only the first test! How are you going to survive the next tests?"  
  
Syaoran smiled devilishly. "Well, Shing said that no one has even survived the first test, so I accomplished something, eh? And that test wasn't too bad, except for the terrible pain in my arm, I only need to do four-nine more tests, surely I can do it. I believe I can do it, Kero!"  
  
Kero whispered to himself, "Such strong spirit… I believe you can do it too."  
  
"What was that?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"Nandemonai!" Kero replied.  
  
"Well, I better get going. I need to pass those next tests!" Syaoran said with a high spirit.  
  
Syaoran began to walk to the door, when Kero stopped him yet again. "Matte! I'm going with you to the graveyard! Maybe I can help, give you support."  
  
Syaoran hesitated. "Well, I don't know…"  
  
Kero pleaded, "Please! Let me go! I want to meet this Shing guy! And I can give you help because I have magical knowledge. I care for Sakura too… I want to help."  
  
"Ok, you can come with me," Syaoran said, realizing how much Kero cared for Sakura. The extra help also made Syaoran realize that he wanted Kero to come with him, as much as Kero wanted to come.  
  
"Yay! Arigato!" Kero yelled, embracing Syaoran without thinking. Syaoran sweatdropped, and Kero stopped hugging Syaoran, only to jump into Syaoran's shirt pocket. "Giddy-up! Let's go save Sakura!"   
  
Syaoran's eyes turned dotty for a split second, before turning determined once again. He opened the door of the apartment and began to walk briskly to the cemetery. With his determination, and his will to save Sakura, Syaoran barely felt the pain in his arm.  
  
The walk to the cemetery went relatively fast, and if not for Kero's constant mutterings to himself, it would have been quiet.  
  
Once Syaoran entered the cemetery, he stopped dead in his tracks.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kero asked, noticing the change.  
  
"The cemetary, it feels so alive," Syaoran said, a bit worried.  
  
"Yeah, so?" Kero replied, "I know that there are a lot of dead people, but isn't it generally suppose to feel alive?"  
  
"Yes, but when my test began, everything went silent. Something is wrong," Syaoran said, now running to Sakura's grave.  
  
Upon reaching Sakura's grave Kero said, "You liar! There is no door here! Were you imagining things when you told me there was a door? If there was no door, there was no key to look for!"   
  
Syaoran dropped to his knees in panic when he was at Sakura's grave and didn't see the door. The door had simply vanished! The monster that he fought was nowhere to be seen either. 'Oh no! What happened? Why isn't the door here? Where's the beast? Where's Shing?!' Syaoran thought frantically.  
  
Kero flew out of Syaoran's pocket and said, "It looks normal here. Were you making up that story when you told me there was a fight here?"  
  
Syaoran glared at Kero and began calling to Shing. "Shing! Shing! Where are you? I'm waiting to complete my test!"  
  
Nothing happened. Birds fluttered overhead, and Syaoran became more desperate each moment. He began to feel that he was going crazy, that he really HAD made up everything in his mind because of his denial in not letting go of Sakura. But then the pain in his arm increased and he knew that he really had fought a monster, and that the tests weren't in his mind.  
  
"Shing! Show yourself! My test isn't over! Damn it! I need to complete my tests and bring Sakura back from the grave! LET ME COMPLETE THE TEST!" Syaoran yelled at the top of his lungs, tears forming at his eyes.  
  
And miraculously, a man in black with sunglasses appeared, leaning against a tree. Shing said, "Why, I believe that you already finished your test."  
  
Kero and Syaoran simultaneously flipped around to face Shing.   
  
"Sugoi, you look creepy…" Kero said, without thinking.  
  
Syaoran ignored Kero and said, "What do you mean that I finished the test? Is it over, do I go onto the next one now?"  
  
Shing shook his head, emotionless. He replied deadly, "Your test is over, you failed."  
  
Syaoran's eyes popped open in amazement. "What are you talking about? I killed that beast! I won!"  
  
"You killed the beast, but you did not get past the door. You left the cemetery, therefore you forfeit the chance to bring the girl you love back from the dead."   
  
"I don't believe this! You never told me that I forfeit if I leave the grounds of the cemetery! And there was no key! I looked!" Syaoran replied, incredulously.   
  
Shing smiled and took out a key from his pocket. It still gleamed in the light, a glow radiating from it.  
  
Syaoran's jaw dropped. "That key wasn't there when I left! You cheated me! I deserve to keep going with the tests! I beat the monster! I have done something that no one else has been able to accomplish, doesn't that count for anything?"  
  
Kero decided that he wanted to say something, "Lookie here! This Chinese brat told me what happened, and I think that he deserves to go on!"  
  
Shing smirked. "When it comes to do the dead, people don't deserve anything. The beast disappeared to be replaced by this key. Remember when I told you about patience? Well, once you left, this key was formed. It's your own fault for not waiting."  
  
"I will not leave here a failure, I refuse to believe that I can't continue with the tests! You are being a cheap baka, that's all," Syaoran said with pure rage in his eyes. He couldn't help it any longer, he began to cry in frustration and lost hope.  
  
Shing glared at the 'cheap baka' comment, but softened and replied, "I see that you are set on your ways. I guess that I can give you credit on beating that monster. I will give you one more try. These tests are life/death situations, and there will be no mercy if you want to back out, you will face that consequence of death."  
  
"I wasn't planning on backing out…" Syaoran said, still very angry.  
  
"I'm sure you weren't," Shing said amusedly. "Also, let me reinstate the rule that you are not allowed to leave the grounds, as you probably know by now…"  
  
"No kidding," Syaoran muttered.  
  
"And lastly, you may not use the assistance you brought along with you, for this test is for you."  
  
"Huh?" Syaoran asked, "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean that you may not use this doll to help you…" Shing said.  
  
"HEY buddy, I'm not a doll!" Kero yelled.  
  
"And furthermore, you may not use your sword or magic papers," Shing said in monotone. He snapped his fingers and the sword and papers were gone.   
  
"That's not fair!" Syaoran proclaimed.  
  
"Life's not fair, get used to it. These tests are for you to use your wit, for you to figure out yourself. The first test was to test your strength, the next is for something else. By using those tools, these tests would be no good. Through your love for Sakura, you are expected to complete these tests, not through your weapons or magic. Your toy will be with me as you take your next test, and remember: Patience is a virtue," Shing said.  
  
Syaoran nodded, although he did not fully understand what Shing had said. He blinked and Shing and Kero had vanished. 'I can't stand that vanishing act,' Syaoran thought.   
  
The door to nowhere once again reappeared, and the cemetery lay quiet.   
  
"Hey!" Syaoran called out to the emptiness around him. "Shing! You forgot to give me the key!"  
  
The key to the door dropped from the sky and into Syaoran's hands.   
  
"Arigato! For everything!" Syaoran called out to nowhere.  
  
He then approached the door behind Sakura's gravestone. Holding the key between his fingers and slipped the key into the door.   
  
'This better work,' Syaoran thought.  
  
The key fit the keyhole with ease, and Syaoran breathed deeply before twisting it. The door slammed open, and a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere. Syaoran forced his way through the door, and found himself surrounded in white.  
  
A/N- So, I think I told ya that I'd get this next chapter out soon, right? Well, here it is! Yay! I wrote it rather quickly, right? Aren't you proud of me? **winks** Well, I have decided that I pretty much want to finish this fic before I work that much on my other fics. If ya got a problem with that, then review or e-mail telling me to work on my other fics, and I'll get to it! Lol. www.geocities.com/sakurafans24/fanfiction.html  
Go there and join my notify list! Then I will e-mail you every time my fic is updated! I would appreciate it a lot if you join! And reviews too! Please please?! Review if ya like the story, hate it, blah blah blah. I love ya all! Bye for now! Until next time! 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 6! I hope ya like it!   
  
Flowers for my Girl-Chapter 6  
  
Syaoran gazed into the whiteness surrounding him. There was nothing around him; it was a pure white arena. Behind him, the door snapped shut, and Syaoran felt he was in the middle of nowhere.  
  
'I can only assume that I'm still in the graveyard,' Syaoran thought. 'What is this place? What if I'm stuck here forever! Nothing is happening! Where's the test?"  
  
And from within Syaoran's mind came Shing's voice. 'Patience is a virtue…'  
  
"Hmph, patience. I don't like it," Syaoran said aloud.  
  
"I know you don't like it," came a voice from behind him.  
  
"Huh?" Syaoran said as he flipped around to see who was talking.   
  
"Patience, we aren't that great at it."   
  
"We?" Syaoran asked. But he knew what the person meant.  
  
"Yes, we. For I am Syaoran Li," said the voice evilly.  
  
Syaoran shook his head. His mirror image was right across from him! 'That can't be possible! How can I be right across from me? This makes no sense, it's confusing!'  
  
"It's only confusing to you," the Li said.  
  
(A/N- I think this is the first time I have ever interrupted one of my fics, but this is important!! PLEASE READ this, or the rest of this chapter will confuse you. The otherwise 'fake' Syaoran I am going to call 'Li' throughout the rest of this chapter, whereas our hero, Syaoran, will be called Syaoran- like always. Sorry if this is confusing^-^;. Back to the story!)  
  
Syaoran shook his head. "How did you know what I was thinking?"  
  
"I'm you, naturally."  
  
'So this is my next test, I guess I have to get by him…' Syaoran thought. 'But how?'  
  
Li laughed and said, "You won't get by me, it's as simple as that. I AM YOU. You injure me, you injure yourself."  
  
"I don't see why I should believe that," Syaoran replied. But then he saw it. The injury. Across from him, Li had the same injury on his arm that he had acquired from the previous test.  
  
"You don't really want to save her," the Li said with menace.   
  
"Nani?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"You're only here because you have nothing better to do. I mean, when you left her last time you said you loved her, but she didn't say anything! She doesn't love you, so you must not love her anymore. It makes sense to me. And since I'm you, well, there should be no argument here," Li said reasonably.  
  
"I don't believe that, I never thought about that!" Syaoran yelled in anger.  
  
"Oh yes you did. You are just in denial. Remember: I know everything that you know. Just give up right now, give up this stupid test, you'd never pass the ones to come, you'd never pass this test."  
  
Syaoran glared and said deadly, "You don't know anything about me if you say that I'm only trying to save Sakura because I have nothing better to do."  
  
Li glared back and replied angrily, "So, you never thought about what happens after you save her? Do you think that you would be some big hero? Of course you wouldn't be! She's just another girl. She died, move on! You can't save her. She died by magic, I'm sure she deserved what she had coming to her."  
  
"I can't save her, eh? We'll see about that. This is just some stupid test. You are trying to make me doubt how I feel. It's not working! I feel the same way I felt when I walked into the door for this test. I WILL save her," Syaoran said stubbornly.  
  
"Well, if that is how you feel, so be it. But I must not let you pass me. You will have to defeat me to go onto the next test," Li said smiling.  
  
Syaoran was about to attack his double, when he stopped in his tracks. "Why are you smiling so surely?"   
  
"I suppose you don't remember that if you injure me, you injure yourself. Also, I have something that you don't have." And with that, Li pulled out his sword, the one that was taken away from Syaoran before he began the test.  
  
Syaoran gasped. "That's not fair…" But Syaoran knew the reply. 'Life isn't fair, yada yada yada…' Syaoran thought, thinking of what Shing would say in such a tough situation as he was in.   
  
Li smiled wickedly. He knew that Syaoran was in such a bind, there was nothing for the boy to do. Li jumped into the air, and lunged towards Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran saw the blade coming and dodged to the left of him. Even with the dodge, the sword managed to graze his skin. 'He got me!' Syaoran thought in pain. His wound from the last test had gotten bigger, being as Li had hurt him in the same place that the green beast as. 'Well, at least if I'm hurt, he's hurt to.' Syaoran looked at his twin, and cried out in alarm. Li was standing in front of the fallen Syaoran, still smiling. His right arm was bleeding at the same rate that Syaoran's was, only he didn't seem to be feeling the pain that Syaoran felt. Syaoran came to a realization about Li, and felt renewed hope.   
  
Li made another dive. Syaoran stood up in agony, and moved to his right side. As Li's sword came in, Syaoran grabbed Li's wrist and twisted it. Li's grip on the sword loosened. Syaoran didn't feel Li's pain and kept twisting Li's hand until Li finally dropped the sword. Syaoran then picked up the sword and for the first time since he had met Li, smiled.   
  
Syaoran held onto his sword with both hands, and held the blade at Li's throat.   
  
He was about to kill Li, when Li interrupted. "You can't kill me, remember? If you kill me, you'll only be killing yourself. And if you kill yourself, there goes any chance that you can save her. Such a pity it is…"  
  
Li never had the chance to complete his thought. Syaoran amputated Li before he had finished.   
  
Standing over his dead twin Syaoran said, "I came to the realization when you didn't feel the pain that you caused on me. You are not me. The real me wants to save Sakura, not condemn her to everlasting sadness in whatever place she is. I love her, you don't. I feel anguish when I think that I might lose. You don't. You are not me, you are fake! Any injury that appeared on you wasn't real. Therefore, I could kill you without killing myself."   
  
'Some test, that was pathetic,' Syaoran thought, waiting for something to happen. From behind him came a distinct clapping noise, making Syaoran turn around quickly.  
  
"Very nice, that was amusing to watch," Shing said. "You survived the second test, that's truly impressive."  
  
Syaoran snorted. "Yeah, I don't consider that to be much of a test. That was insulting! To have my mirror image tell me that my journey to bring back Sakura was for my own selfish reasons, I would never believe that!"   
  
Shing nodded and replied, "That mirror wasn't as fake as you think him to be. Whether you realize it or not, you have those doubts in your mind. This test was for you to recognize and defeat those doubts. You seemingly defeated doubts you were unaware of. You do have those doubts, you just don't know it because they are hidden deep inside you."  
  
"That's bull," Syaoran fumed.  
  
"Yay! Syaoran-kun won!" came a voice with an Osaka accent behind Shing. Kero flew to Syaoran and hugged his neck. "You won the test! I watched it with Shing; that was cool! One Syaoran is dead! But I wonder if there are more Syaoran's in the world? That would be terrible!"   
  
Syaoran sweatdropped and yelled, "Let go of me! That Syaoran wasn't me! That's why I didn't die too! He was a fake replica of me!"   
  
Kero let go of Syaoran and proclaimed, "Really?"  
  
Syaoran sweatdropped even more and asked Kero, "Did you listen to anything I said while you were mysteriously watching the test? Or while I was talking to Shing?"  
  
Kero replied innocently, "No. I was watching it. Ya know, I should have figured that Syaoran wasn't the same as you, he was more handsome!"  
  
Syaoran sighed and turned his attention back onto Shing. "Can we get out of this place? It's so white in here… kinda creepy."  
  
Shing nodded and after Syaoran blinked, they were back into the dreary graveyard. Kero was flying around through the trees, humming and singing. "Sakura is coming back, Sakura is coming back!" he sang.  
  
"When is my next test?" Syaoran asked.  
  
Shing replied, "You're in a hurry. I don't blame you. The next test starts… now."   
  
Syaoran nodded. He then realized that Kero and Shing were gone again. Syaoran sighed and shook his head, still not liking their disappearing act.   
  
'I don't have any doubts about what I'm doing. I will revive Sakura, no matter what,' Syaoran thought convincingly. 'I don't have any doubts, nope… no doubts…'  
  
  
A/N- Good? Bad? Gomen nasai if that was confusing! I tried to make it make sense, lol. Oh! The whole, "You told Sakura you loved her, but she never said she loved you thing," the setting of the story. It takes place after the 3rd season, before the movies.   
  
If you don't understand here's a summary of what Syaoran meant when he said that Li was fake-à Ok, once Syaoran saw that Li didn't feel the pain that he felt, he knew that Li was fake. If Li was truly the same as Syaoran, he would feel the same as Syaoran felt. Therefore this replica of Syaoran was just another person trying to confuse Syaoran's mind. Syaoran knew he could kill Li, since Li wasn't him.   
  
Cripes, this is starting to confuse me! Well, it's hard to explain, but hopefully you got it! The next tests aren't so confusing. I just thought that a fake Syaoran test would be fun. Please review! It makes me so happy! As for Syaoran's doubts, what do you think? ^_~ Ja! 


	7. Chapter 7 bwahahaha

A/N- Oh fudd! I meant to say that the second movie never happened, thanks for mentioning that! Late night writing must be getting to my head. This is a really creepy chapter cause it's kinda… creative in a messed up way… so enjoy! Lol^_^.  
  
Flowers for my Girl- Chapter 7  
  
'Yup, no doubts,' Syaoran thought. 'At least I got my sword back from the last test, it probably won't help me much though…  
  
Syaoran looked around for something unusual that would be his next test in saving Sakura. To find something out of the norm was really easy for Syaoran. For a few feet away was a pole about 60 feet high pole connected to a bowl at the top. 'This looks stupid. It's a pole. And something is at the top, inside the bowl. Ah cripes! Something is inside the bowl! Something I'll probably need.'  
  
Instantly, past memories of being on Sakura's staff flying in the sky brought terror to him. Zooming into the sky and looking down to what might be death if he fell didn't appeal to him. 'So I guess this is a fear test. It looks pretty stupid… who the heck came up with the idea of having a huge pole connected to a bowl? This is ridiculous!' Syaoran thought. 'Ah well, as long as I pass the test. This shouldn't be too hard.'  
  
Syaoran walked up to the pole and smiled. Hanging out of ledges of the pole were places that Syaoran would be able to grab to balance himself on his climb upward. 'They are making this easier and easier! This is gonna be just like rock climbing!' Syaoran smirked. The thought that he had never rock climbed in his life didn't even occur to him.  
  
Syaoran put his foot on a ledge. Then his arms reached upward as he began to pull himself upward. He went up five feet…ten feet… fifteen feet… twenty feet. Syaoran paused and smiled yet again. He was starting to feel like he was going to win this test with ease because it was so simple. Heights weren't too big of a fear to handle. But then Syaoran looked down… and nearly lost his balance.   
  
"Too high!" he yelled out to no one. Syaoran clutched the pole. He was a sitting pigeon for a few minutes until his head began to come back to him. 'I guess I shouldn't look down again, this is terrible!' Syaoran thought, unnerved.   
  
But his will to save Sakura was stronger than his fears and he decided to climb more. He took a step.   
  
Suddenly his body was flying out of control as the step he had taken was a bad one, for the ledge was a trick and didn't hold. His foot slipped on the fake step. Thinking fast Syaoran held his arms tight onto the ledges above him and found a sturdier place to put his feet. Syaoran sweatdropped crazily as he thought about how he could have fallen while he was up so high.   
  
With a grimace, Syaoran struggled to continue on. Up he went, foot by foot, till he was about fifty feet in the air with about ten more feet left until he would reach the bowl at the top.  
  
After ten more feet Syaoran was faced with a big bowl above his head. 'How am I suppose to get inside the bowl?' Syaoran thought. The bowl was gigantic up close, it was very tall and wide, which made it hard for Syaoran to get inside from underneath it.  
  
'Jump,' Shing's voice replied to the question.   
  
Syaoran laughed, as if Shing was crazy.  
  
"Jump, eh? That's ridiculous! The bowl is way above me. The chances that I'd fall are really high," Syaoran said aloud. Syaoran looked at the bowl above him. For a few minutes he thought about what else he could possible do. But no other options came to mind.   
  
Syaoran took a deep breath and jumped above him to grab the bowl. The bowl shook as Syaoran's hands grabbed the rim of the bowl. Before the bowl could fall off the pole, Syaoran jumped into it. With a breath of relief, Syaoran realized he had made it.   
  
"I made it to the top! I conquered my fear of heights! I won, I won!" Syaoran yelled, hoping Shing would hear.   
  
"You haven't won yet!"   
  
Syaoran turned around to face a clown.  
  
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…" Syaoran muttered under his breath.  
  
"Syaoran!! I missed you so much! Why didn't you take me with you to Tomoeda!" Meiling said, whining.  
  
Syaoran looked at Meiling. "Why the heck are you wearing that outfit?"  
  
Meiling looked down. "I dunno, I just felt like wearing a clown outfit." Meiling hugged Syaoran. "You need to come home! Then we can marry and live happily ever after!"  
  
Syaoran sweatdropped and said quietly. "Why does my test have Meiling dressed up as a clown? I swear, whoever makes up these tests are totally crazy! What am I suppose to do next?"  
  
"You have to get down, of course," Meiling said, as if she knew what was supposed to happen in the test.  
  
Syaoran gazed at Meiling in suspiciously. "How would you know?"   
  
"The sunglasses guy told me before I sat up here to wait for you."  
  
"Sunglasses guy?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"Yeah, the creepy guy…" Meiling answered.   
  
"Shing? What did he tell you?"  
  
"He gave me this," Meiling replied. Out of her clown suit, Meiling took out a glass bottle filled with fluid. "And then he said that I should give you the bottle whenever I feel like it. Then ya gotta go back down and I think it's over."  
  
Syaoran nodded. "That's pretty simple. So, will you give me the bottle?"  
  
Meiling shook her head. "Why should I?"  
  
"Because… because… I have to get back down so I can go onto the next test," Syaoran answered nervously.  
  
"Why do you want to go onto the next test?" Meiling asked.  
  
"To save Sakura," Syaoran said simply.  
  
"Save Sakura?! What about me? I'm here all alone, in this big bowl."  
  
"It's your own fault for getting stuck here."  
  
Meiling glared at Syaoran. "For that I'm not going to give you this bottle."  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened. "Oh come on Meiling! The sooner I get the bottle, the sooner I will be home in China."  
  
Meiling replaced her glare with a smile. "Seriously? And then we can finally get married! You know, mom was going to tell you about it before you abruptly left to come here."  
  
Syaoran nodded passively. "Yeah yeah yeah. So can I have the bottle?"  
  
Meiling hugged Syaoran again. "Now I don't want to ever let you go!"   
  
Syaoran sweatdropped at Meiling's tight embrace. "Please Meiling, I really got to go."  
  
Meiling slipped the bottle into Syaoran's shirt pocket. "There ya go! Now leave!"  
  
And with that, Meiling pushed Syaoran over the edge of the bowl.   
  
Syaoran yelled, "Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeei-Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!"   
  
Meiling smiled innocently as Syaoran fell, getting closer to the ground. "He will get to the ground sooner, meaning he'll be home sooner."  
  
Syaoran hit the ground a lot more sooner than he thought he would. Surprisingly, he wasn't hurt. 'What? I should be dead after a fall like that!' Syaoran thought, looking at his fully intact body.  
  
"Well, you only fell a few feet, of course you aren't dead," Shing said, standing next to Syaoran.  
  
"Huh? A few feet?" Syaoran asked. Then he looked at the pole. It was only about five feet high now. The bowl was still there, and Meiling the Clown sat in it smiling.   
  
"Come home soon!" Meiling said as she disappeared into thin air.  
  
Syaoran looked at Shing incredulously. "What the hell was that?! Meiling as a clown?! A pole?! A bowl?! That's crazy! I don't even get the point! Is this some joke?"  
  
Shing shrugged. "I actually thought it was kind of amusing."  
  
Kero popped out from behind Shing. "That was so cool! You looked like such an idiot when you climbed that pole! Scared of heights, eh? HAHAHA, that's too funny!"  
  
Syaoran sweatdropped. "What was the point of having Meiling dressed as a clown? That was scary to see."  
  
"Scary? It was suppose to be. Don't clowns scare you?" Shing asked, curiously.  
  
"Huh? No, they just annoy me," Syaoran answered.  
  
"What about Meiling? Does she scare you?" Shing asked.  
  
"At times. The marriage thing she has stuck in her mind get kind of annoying. I don't want to marry her, she's just my favorite cousin. Was that really her?"   
  
"Kind of. In Hong Kong she's probably asleep dreaming that she was a clown in a bowl talking to you," Shing replied.  
  
"Meiling looked freaky," Kero commented.  
  
Syaoran nodded. "I just gotta say. That test was stupid. It was too crazy. A bowl attached to a pole? Where do you come up with these stupid things anyway?"  
  
"Believe me, this test was by far easier than the next few ones. You should appreciate it that you passed the test. This test was on the more… creative side," Shing said.  
  
Syaoran nodded, raising an eyebrow at Shing. Then he reached into his pocket. "Here's the bottle you wanted," Syaoran said giving the bottle to Shing.  
  
"The bottle isn't for me. It's for you. Once you drink the contents the next test will begin," Shing said.  
  
Kero decided to speak up again. "This test will be a lot harder you said? Be careful! I'm so glad I don't have to do these tests, because they are fun to watch!"  
  
Syaoran nodded. "I guess it would be pointless to ask what happens when I drink this…"  
  
Shing smiled. "Of course. That would ruin the surprise."  
  
"The surprise?"  
  
"I hate to give it away… but in the next test… you'll see Sakura," Shing said mysteriously.  
  
A/N- Whewwwwwwwwwwww… it's over! For some reason, that chapter was really hard to write o_O. It's really hard to think of what Syaoran would be scared of. I figured heights because of the way he is when Sakura is flying and he's hesitant to get on with her. The pole would kinda look like a flag pole, only it would have the indentations of… a football pole light thing? Lol… yeah…I was asking a few people what they thought Syaoran was scared of and they said that Syaoran was scared of/for Sakura, but since she is dead, I can't really put that in the story. And some say he's scared of Meiling, but I can't really go with that… clowns are just annoying. Well, I plan for the next chapter to be really interesting, no really freaky stuff. Thanks for reading this! Look out for the next chapter!^_^ Coming really soon! 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N- Thanks readers and reviewers! This wouldn't have been written w/o ya! Ok, If I remember correctly, I'm on the fourth test… lol, me and my bad memory. Well, here's the fourth one!   
  
Disclaimer- I find this totally ridiculous. Obviously, I do not own CLAMP or it's characters. If I did, I would be out writing stories to get PUBLISHED and stuff, not be writing fanfic for the amusement of others and myself. Happy? So don't sue me, k? **winks**  
  
Here's what we ended with…  
  
Syaoran nodded. "I guess it would be pointless to ask what happens when I drink this…"  
  
Shing smiled. "Of course. That would ruin the surprise."  
  
"The surprise?"  
  
"I hate to give it away… but in the next test… you'll see Sakura," Shing said mysteriously.  
  
Chapter 8- Flowers for my Girl  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened. "I… I'll get to see Sakura?"   
  
Shing replied dryly, "Do you have a hearing problem? That's what I said. So get onto it! Drink the thing and begin the test!"  
  
Syaoran thought for a moment. 'I feel like I should be asking something… or that this is the trap. I didn't think that I'd be able to see Sakura this soon. Oh well! I guess I should be thankful.'  
  
Kero started cheering, "Go you! Hurry up and finish these tests… I'm getting kind of hungry…"  
  
Syaoran shook his head before yelling, "Is food all you can think about?!"   
  
Kero shook his head. "Naw, I think about games and Clow Cards and and… well, pretty much… food!"  
  
Syaoran sweatdropped and reverted his attention back to Shing. He asked, "When are you going to leave?"  
  
"When you drink the bottle," Shing replied, a dead sound to his voice.  
  
"Ok, then. Here goes nothing!" Syaoran said. He opened up the small vile of fluid and tipped it into his mouth. He instantly felt dizzy. 'Wah?' he thought before falling into a deep sleep.  
  
"Heyyyyyyy!" Kero protested to Shing. "I thought you said that Syaoran would be able to see Sakura!"   
  
"Oh, he will, he will," Shing said. An evil glint in his eye shimmered as he smiled cruely. "As for now, let's wait here and see what happens…"  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Syaoran woke up on a soft bed, floods of light entering his room through a window. 'I just had the strangest dream, but I can't remember what it was!' Syaoran thought.  
  
As Syaoran began to prop himself up on his bed he heard a black-hair, pigtailed girl enter his room with a scowl on her face. "Syaoran!! What are you waiting for! Get out of bed! We hafta go to school!"  
  
"Meiling?" Syaoran asked, still dazed from sleeping.  
  
"Did you forget me or something? What?" Meiling asked in a careless tone.  
  
Syaoran squinted his eyes together in confusion. "Sorry."   
  
Meiling tsked and said, "Come on now! We're late! Do you want me to drag you out of bed?"  
  
"I'll be ready in a few minutes!"  
  
Syaoran jumped out of bed, a rare smile on his face. "Such a strange feeling, I'm so glad to be awake!" he said to himself.  
  
Meiling shook her head and walked away. In five minutes, Syaoran cleaned himself up and put on a Seijou High School uniform. He had been going there since the start of the school year, coming back from China after a few years. He and Sakura had fallen deeply in love and were living a happy life of girlfriend and boyfriend. Meiling had given up on the wedding and had found herself a boyfriend that she was as obsessed about as she had once been for Syaoran. There were no complaints about life or what it had brought them. Things had been running smoothly for months. 'Life is good…' Syaoran thought to himself, walking out of his room.   
  
Meiling was at the front door. "Finally! Let's go!" she said, beginning to run out the door.  
  
"H-hey, wait for me!" Syaoran hurriedly put on his shoes and caught up with Meiling.   
  
"Since you woke up so late, we are going to be late for school! The teacher is going to punish us!" Meiling whined.  
  
"Sorry," Syaoran found himself saying, for the second time in that morning.  
  
"Yeah yeah…" Meiling muttered. They reached the school within a few minutes.   
  
As the school bell rang, the footsteps of two late kids echoed down the hallway of the school. Meiling and Syaoran entered the classroom a few seconds later, gasping for breath from their exhausting run.  
  
The teacher looked up from his roll call list and said in a very annoyed tone, "You're late, take your seats."  
  
Meiling and Syaoran nodded respectfully and sat down in the designated seats. 'Meiling had nothing to worry about, we made it to school without any other punishment then being scolded!'  
  
Syaoran looked next to him to find Sakura smiling at him. 'She is so beautiful, somehow I feel like this is all a dream. The love of my life is sitting next to me, a smile on her face, awaiting the next day of our future as I am…'   
  
Syaoran smiled back and began listening to the teacher. He saw Sakura dozing off into space, and laughed within himself. 'No wonder she does so poorly in math…'   
  
He began taking notes on different math equations that were being taught. Something in the back of his mind was nagging at him, but he pushed it farther back into his head. 'Whatever it is, it can't be anything important. After all, if it was important, I'd remember what it is!'  
  
The imageless thought pushed itself into the back of his head, and he felt clearheaded. Pages and pages began to fill up with notes. 'Erg! This class is taking too long!' he thought after the 4th page of his written notes. From somewhere in his mind came the reply, 'Patience is a virtue…'  
  
Syaoran blinked in amazement. 'Woah, déjà vu!' He sat blinking in surprise for a few moments before a note was passed to him from Sakura.  
  
"You look stunned… is something wrong? I missed you this morning! I thought that you and Meiling weren't going to come to school because you were late…–Love, Sakura"  
  
Syaoran smiled and regained his composure. He wrote back. "I wouldn't miss out on a chance to see you! I just had this strange feeling, it's nothing. But with all this math that's going on, I should be stunned. It feels like it's never going to end! Talk to ya soon! –Love, Syaoran"  
  
Syaoran stared at his note. His attention was fixed on the "Love, Syaoran" part. 'How come it feels like I never said to Sakura that I loved her? I know I did, I remember it so clearly!' He shrugged off the doubt and handed her the note.  
  
She read the note and looked at Syaoran, a twinkle in her eye. Syaoran nodded and returned his eyes to the teacher again. 'And it goes on and on…' he thought, feeling more and more tired as the time passed.   
  
Finally, the class was over. A few more subjects of terrible droning done by the teachers went by until lunch came. Syaoran sighed a breath a relief and thought, 'School never felt this long before…'  
  
Before he could think to himself anymore, his arm was being pulled by Sakura's amazing strength.  
  
"Hurry! Come on! Let's eat! Our friends are behind us waiting!" Sakura said, a playful smile on her face.   
  
Syaoran was pulled out of his chair and out the room, followed by Tomoyo, Meiling, and the rest of their friends. They all laughed at Sakura's sweet behavior and talked amongst themselves.   
  
Suddenly, Meiling pushed through them and called out, "Shing! Shing! Over here!"  
  
A flash passed through Syaoran's eyes. He stopped dead in his tracks, to stare at Meiling rushing over to Shing. Sakura felt Syaoran's body stop and stopped too. She whispered, "Why did we stop?"   
  
Syaoran replied quietly, "I feel like I know him…"  
  
Sakura giggled. "Silly! That's Meiling's boyfriend. He's a grade above us, and he always wears those sunglasses, remember? They've been going out for months, of course you know him!"  
  
Syaoran nodded. "Oh yeah." He began walking on. Something was still bugging him, but he didn't know what it was, so he decided to keep ignoring it.   
  
"Good afternoon, Li," Shing said in a raspy voice.  
  
Syaoran looked at him in surprise. 'That… voice…'  
  
"What's wrong?" Shing asked, pleasantly.   
  
"No... Nothing!" Syaoran resolved, taking a seat next to Sakura at the lunch table.  
  
Shing took off his sunglasses. "It's so nice outside, I think I want to see nature as it!" he said, smiling at Meiling.  
  
Meiling had hearts in her eyes. "You have pretty eyes… but you rarely take off those glasses," she said, not seeming to notice the people around her.  
  
"And as I say, my darling, your eyes are much more prettier…" Shing replied, with a monotone.   
  
Meiling didn't seem to care about the dry sounding compliment, and she kept smiling at Shing.   
  
Syaoran shook his head at his cousin. 'She's acting like such a clown!' But as soon as the word clown and Meiling entered his mind, something once again flashed in his memory. 'Oh yeah! My dream! Meiling was a clown in my dream last night! And… and… it was really weird…' Syaoran thought. At least he knew why Meiling being compared to a clown was familiar. 'And maybe I was dreaming about Shing too.' Syaoran smiled triumphantly. 'This is all making sense now! There's nothing to worry about!'   
  
Syaoran began to get himself into the conversation, a grin on his face. He was better than he had felt since he woke up. Everything was piecing itself together. All his strange feelings were only because of a creepy dream he had the night before, and nothing else.   
  
Syaoran reminded himself, 'After all, Sakura is sitting right next to me. Everyone is happy, there is nothing to worry about!'  
  
A/N- Oh wow, I didn't mean for this chapter to be so short. I dunno… it just feels… short. So, Shing didn't lie, eh? Syaoran is seeing Sakura! Or at least, he's seeing Sakura in his mind's illusion. Yup, the illusions of happiness, that's the test. Look at that! He even convinced himself that he is in reality! How is he gonna get out of this bind?! Please review, thanks for reading! 


	9. Chapter 9 yay!

.A/N- The Illusion of Happiness! That's how I wanted to describe it! Ugh, I can't ever describe things! LoL… Thanks kirjava-chan!  
  
Flowers for my Girl- Chapter 9  
  
Syaoran sighed a breath of inward relief. There was nothing wrong. The only reason he was feeling strange was because of a dream that he was starting to remember. 'Well… Meiling was a clown in my dream? No wonder I feel so strange! That must be a very creepy thing to see! And Shing… what was it about Shing in my dream?' Syaoran grunted.  
  
"Anything wrong?" Sakura whispered, leaning over so that no one else could hear her.  
  
"Huh?" Syaoran asked, returning to the reality of eating lunch at the tables of Seijou High.   
  
"You were zoning out… that's my job!" Sakura said playfully.  
  
Syaoran blinked and smiled at Sakura. With a bite of his lunch, Syaoran decided that pointless dreams were nothing to ponder about.   
  
Sakura was talking with the rest of the group about plans for what they could do after school.  
  
"So, does that sound good to everyone?" Sakura asked.  
  
Everyone nodded in agreement. Syaoran hadn't heard what she said, but nodded anyway.  
  
"All right then! We'll go to a movie later! Yay!" Sakura proclaimed.  
  
'A movie? Ok then, that works…' Syaoran thought.   
  
Everyone began chatting on the same time from then on out. They began to talk about which movie they should see, how long and tiring school was, and other things that Syaoran could not comprehend. Syaoran looked over at Shing. Shing was staying out of the conversation, like him. Something about the look in Shing's eyes made Syaoran feel uneasy. His eyes seemed to be glazed over, but yet he looked like he was paying attention to the world around him. Syaoran shrugged. 'Meiling has the weirdest taste in guys…' Syaoran thought before realizing that she used to like him.  
  
A few minutes later, the bell signaling that lunch was over rang. Sakura complained, "Lunch is too short!"   
  
Every nodded. Shing simply put his sunglasses on and began walking away. Syaoran nodded along with the rest of the group and watched as Shing left. Meiling jumped out of her chair and yelled, "Hey! Wait for me!"   
  
Shing paused and waited for Meiling to hook her arm around Shing. Syaoran kept watching Shing till they disappeared. Sakura pulled Syaoran out of the seat and said, "Come on! You're being so lazy today! I keep having to pull you out of your chair!"   
  
Syaoran stood up and randomly said, "I don't trust Shing."  
  
Sakura giggled. "You haven't trusted him since the day you met him! I don't think that any guy is going to be good enough for Meiling in your opinion."  
  
"That's right," Syaoran sighed. "Let's get to class."  
  
They walked hand in hand to their next class and got into their seats before the bell rang. Sakura winked at Syaoran, causing him to blush. 'Why am I so hesitant? I keep going through this! There is nothing wrong! But… why do I keep questioning it then?'  
  
The teacher began to teach the lesson and Syaoran once again pushed his doubts away.  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
School was over. The big group of friends began to walk to the movie theater. Takashi remarked, "You know, movies were started…"  
  
Before he could get into his legend, Chiharu elbowed him in the side and said dryly, "No one really cares why they started. We only care to watch them…"  
  
The movie theater wasn't crowded, to their delight. Before they got in live for their tickets Sakura asked, "What movie are we going to see?"  
  
"How about 'Desires Awakening?'" Naoko asked.  
  
The boys groaned. Takashi complained, "We agreed to a movie, but not some mushy junk like that! Can't you tell just by the name that it is just going to be kissing and people telling each other how much they love each other? Sounds disgusting!"  
  
Rika asked in her chipper voice, "What about 'Teacher's Love?'"  
  
Everyone gave her a questioning look.   
  
Rika sweatdropped and said in an angry voice, "What?! It was just a suggestion!"  
  
Sakura sighed and said, "Ok ok! How about 'Flowers for my Girl?'"  
  
Takashi groaned. "Didn't we just go through the thing about mushiness? 'Flowers for my Girl?' Sounds like it's about some guy that got a girl mad, then gave her flowers and they made up and started kissing!"  
  
Sakura insisted, "But that's not at all what it is about! It's about a girl that dies and a guy that visits her every day, laying flowers at her gravestone."  
  
"That sounds morbid…" Meiling, who was quiet with Syaoran and Shing the whole time, commented.  
  
"That's kinda sweet…" Tomoyo countered.  
  
"Anyway," Sakura said, "The guy decides that he is going to bring the girl back from the dead and goes through a number of tests before bringing her back…"  
  
Syaoran's eyes popped open. "That sounds so familiar," he said aloud, mostly to himself.  
  
Shing replied smoothly, "They make a lot of movies with this kind of theme lately, maybe you've seen one like it."  
  
Naoko smiled. "It kinda sounds scary, I like scary movies. I say we should see it!"  
  
Rika, Chiharu, and Tomoyo nodded enthusiastically. "And it's romantic, but kind of eerie."  
  
Meiling shrugged and Syaoran squinted eyes. Shing shrugged along with Meiling.  
  
Takashi sighed and muttered, "Fine fine."  
  
"Then it's agreed!" Sakura yelled, pointing her finger in the air triumphantly.  
  
She gathered the money and went up to the counter. "Nine tickets to 'Flowers for my Girl,' please!"  
  
The lady at the register took the money and produced nine tickets. "Enjoy," she said, before Sakura left.  
  
Sakura gave everyone their ticket. They filed into the theater and got their snacks. Then they proceeded to the showing.   
  
Syaoran sat down next to Sakura, and watched the previews. Then the movie began to start. The first thing Syaoran thought about the movie was, 'These actors are very bad. They have such corny lines!'  
  
The girls were fully intent though. Meiling was sitting upright in her chair, a look of enjoyment on her face. Shing looked bored with the movie. Syaoran couldn't shake the idea out of his head that the idea for the movie was very familiar. The thing that Shing said about it being made into a movie before made sense, so Syaoran tried to accept that answer. He decided to watch some of the movie and see what it was like.  
  
~~ The man smiled at this and said, "You ask too many questions. My name is of no importance. I am from a world beyond this one. The one where your beloved is now.~~  
  
Syaoran smirked. 'This definitely sounds familiar. I bet I saw this movie a while ago and slept through it.' He listened for another quote.  
  
  
~~'Do you have any advice for me?"  
  
Almost smiling the man said, "Wise question. Advice? Always remember who you're fighting for. The life of you're loved one. Also remember that if you lose, then that person is lost forever in the between. You will be lost too. Life is beautiful, if there is something that you should treasure, it is life. Never give up and believe in the powers in you. Use your mind because without it you will get nowhere."~~  
  
'Yup, I definitely saw this movie before! So I guess that means that I should just sleep through it this time through too cause this movie sounds pretty boring…'  
  
And with that, Syaoran fell sleep. Shing saw Syaoran's eyes shut and smiled. Seeing Syaoran sleeping, Sakura considered waking him up, but noticing how peaceful he looked, Sakura decided against it. 'His loss,' she thought.  
  
After about 2 hours, the movie ended. The credits began rolling through. Sakura shook Syaoran awake. He opened his eyes slowly and lazily said, "What's going on?"  
  
"Remember? We're at the movie theater! The movie just finished… let's go!"   
  
"Oh… ok," Syaoran said, still in a dazed state.  
  
The sun was beginning to set when the group walked outside. Syaoran was fully awake now. "So, er… great movie, eh?" he asked.  
  
Sakura glared. "Nice try… I know you were asleep the whole time."  
  
"Not true!" Syaoran persisted.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well, do you see things through your eyelids?" Sakura asked.  
  
"I remember the man saying, "Never forget who you're fighting for!" That was kind of cool…"  
  
Sakura laughed. "That was at the beginning of the movie though!"  
  
"Ok, well… I remember that the third test was about… um, conquering fears!" Syaoran proclaimed.  
  
Sakura's eyes widened. "Woah! I guess you really can see through your eyelids!!"  
  
Shing muttered, "He's seen the movie before…"  
  
"Yeah, I guess I did watch of it before. I don't remember what happens at the end…" Syaoran replied.  
  
Sakura knitted her eyebrows together and said mysteriously, "How could you have seen this movie before? It just came out yesterday!"  
  
Syaoran gave Sakura a clueless look. "I didn't see any movies yesterday. That movie was really familiar though."  
  
Everyone listened to the conversation. Naoko said, "The mystery! It sounds just like a book I started to read!"  
  
"What happened at the end?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
"I didn't finish it… it got boring," Naoko said, shrugging.  
  
Tomoyo sweatdropped.   
  
"I've got to go!" Rika proclaimed.   
  
"Yeah… I do too," Takashi said.  
  
Within a few minutes, everyone began splitting up. The only people left were Sakura, Syaoran, Shing, and Meiling.  
  
"There are movies like that though. I'm sure that's what it is," Shing casually said.  
  
"Then how did I know what the third test was?" Syaoran demanded.  
  
Shing shrugged carelessly. "It was a good guess."  
  
Syaoran knew that he should forget about it. The movie didn't matter. But he had had the uneasy feeling all day. He had tried to repress the feeling all day, but it had gotten to a point of ridiculousness.  
  
"Good guess? I doubt it!" Syaoran yelled.  
  
Sakura tugged at Syaoran's arm. "Don't worry about it! Let's just go home…"  
  
Syaoran took his arm out of Sakura's grip. "I can't forget about it. It just doesn't feel right."  
  
"Syaoran! You're just being paranoid! Let's go home!" Meiling said, her fiery temper beginning to rise.  
  
Shing nodded and said, "I gotta go now. Sleep is starting to call out to me…"  
  
Syaoran questioned, "Why do you wear those sunglasses? It's not sunny outside!"  
  
Shing laughed. "Why not?"  
  
Sakura whispered into Syaoran's ears, "He has an eye problem… remember?"  
  
"Eye problem? Then why did you take off your sunglasses at lunch when it was sunny outside?" Syaoran demanded.  
  
"I couldn't help myself… are you getting nervous?" Shing asked.  
  
Syaoran blinked. 'Nervous? Wah?'   
  
Meiling took Syaoran's arm and said, "Sorry, we better go. I think that Syaoran must have hit his head on the back of the theater chair or something. I'll take him home."  
  
Before Sakura or Shing could protest, Meiling dragged the curious Syaoran away. She kept a calm face till they were far away enough that Sakura or Shing would not see them. Then she let go of Syaoran and yelled, "What the heck is wrong with you? Why were you questioning Shing?"  
  
Syaoran argued, "I didn't really question him! I was curious! I know that movie!"  
  
"The movie?! This is all about that movie?" Meiling asked, incredulously.  
  
"Yeah! Why does Shing insist I've seen if before?"  
  
"So that you don't act so crazy? So that you will have an explanation?" Meiling suggested.  
  
"No! He wants me to forget about something!" Syaoran yelled.  
  
Meiling shook her head. "Just get over it, Syaoran! Aren't you happy with the life you live?"  
  
"Well… yeah…"  
  
"Aren't you happy with Sakura? What about the fact that I cancelled our marriage and am living my own happy life? Shing is a great guy! You should be happy!" Meiling cried.  
  
"I'm happy! But but…" Syaoran said.  
  
"No buts! Just be happy!" Meiling urged.  
  
"O… k… Sorry for tonight," Syaoran said, half-heartedly.  
  
Meiling smiled. "No worries," she said.  
  
They walked home together, in a comfortable silence. Syaoran broke he silence. "By the way, how did that movie end?"  
  
Meiling replied briskly, "You shouldn't have fallen asleep."  
  
"Nooo! Please tell me!" Syaoran didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to know what happened at the end.  
  
"The guy didn't pass the tests. He died, and lived happily ever after with his dead beloved in some afterlife thing," Meiling said with a boring expression.  
  
"That's kind of… stupid," Syaoran said, disappointed for no reason.  
  
"Yeah, he failed the test where he couldn't overcome his own happiness. It was sad, there were a lot of people crying," Meiling said, tears appearing in her own eyes.  
  
Syaoran nodded. 'How pointless…'  
  
The apartment that Syaoran and Meiling entered was dark. Syaoran went into his room, and Meiling into hers. "No crazy thoughts!" she yelled to his back as he shut the door behind him.  
  
Syaoran plopped down onto his bed in his room. He closed his eyes. 'Are you nervous?' a voice in his mind said.  
  
Syaoran opened his eyes. "Why did Shing say that?"   
  
And the part of the movie that he watched came into his mind.   
  
~~ "Always remember who you're fighting for. The life of you're loved one. Also remember that if you lose, then that person is lost forever in the between. You will be lost too. Life is beautiful, if there is something that you should treasure, it is life. Never give up and believe in the powers in you. Use your mind because without it you will get nowhere."~~  
  
Syaoran thought to himself, 'Am I fighting for someone? But that's not possible… the only person I would fight for is Sakura, and she is right by me!'  
  
Another dialogue went into his mind. 'Are you getting nervous? I don't blame you… after all, no one has ever survived the tests…'  
  
"Whoa! Where did that come from?" Syaoran asked aloud. Then he remembered Shing say, 'Are you nervous?' when Syaoran asked about the sunglasses.  
  
And the final dialogue that Syaoran thought of was Meiling saying, 'He failed the test where he couldn't overcome his own happiness.'  
  
'His… own… happiness?' Syaoran asked. The pieces were beginning to fall into place. 'But if that's true, and that movie was true… then that means… oh no!'  
  
Syaoran picked up his phone and dialed a number.   
  
"Moshi moshi?" a sweet voice answered.  
  
Syaoran said, "Hi Sakura! I was… uh… just calling to apologize about today. I guess I was just feeling funny."  
  
Sakura laughed, "No problem! I gotta admit that you were acting kind of funny though."  
  
Syaoran asked spontaneously, "Do you remember when I said I loved you a long time ago?"  
  
Sakura paused on the line before saying, "Yeah? What does that have to do with anything?"   
  
"Do you love me, Sakura?"   
  
"Of course I do, Syaoran! Why are you asking such a question?"  
  
"I don't know… but it makes me feel a lot better. I have to go now, ok?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"Ok! See you tomorrow!" And with that, Sakura hung up.  
  
Syaoran sighed. 'Hearing that Sakura loves me is the thing that would make me the happiest. This is all too good to be true. Remember who I'm fighting for? Never give up? Use my mind? That was the advice that I had received… from Shing!'  
  
Syaoran began to think, bringing back all his memories. He slowly began to remember his tests. The first test was strength, the second was to overcome himself, the next was a crazy version for his fears… and this one was to go beyond his own happiness! Everything clicked into place. He knew what he had to do next.  
  
Without another thought, Syaoran jumped off his bed and bolted out of his room. He ran to the front door. Meiling yelled, "Where are ya going?"  
  
Syaoran ignored her and ran. He ran for a few minutes before a dead silence began to envelope him. 'Yup, this is the place,' Syaoran thought.  
  
Syaoran entered the graveyard. He slowly approached the place where Sakura's tomb should lay. Of course, being that Sakura wasn't alive in this world he had made, her grave wasn't there. But the empty lot was still there.   
  
"I know you are here Shing!" Syaoran called out to the air around him.  
  
Shing appeared from behind the tree. He asked innocently, "Why are you here?"  
  
"I figured it out, this is not real! All my thoughts of being together with Sakura, it's all fake!!"   
  
"It's all in your head. Go home Syaoran. Wake up tomorrow and be with Sakura," Shing said passively.  
  
"NO! I can't! I can't… because… she's dead… and I don't want to fail the test," Syaoran said hesitantly.  
  
Shing began to clap in amusement. "Wow, that's intense. But didn't Meiling tell you what happened at the end of the movie?"  
  
Syaoran gave him a puzzled look. "The boy failed the test and died?"  
  
"Yes, but they lived happily together after death… isn't that good enough?" Shing asked.  
  
"That's just a fantasy life! I can't live a life of fantasy... I don't know that that would happen. That was just a movie! That wasn't reality."   
  
"Yes, but you don't want to give in now?"  
  
Syaoran glared and said, "You annoy me so much! I don't want to give in! Didn't you say that I shouldn't give up? I should remember who I'm fighting for? I want Sakura and me to live a happy life in the REAL world!"  
  
"This world is very real…"  
  
"That's different! It's only real in my head." Syaoran sighed. "Do you really want me to fail that bad?"   
  
Shing sighed too. "That's not it. But you are getting nearer and nearer to the end of your tests. And this would be a perfect place to stop, I just want you to think about it."  
  
"I want to go on. I've gotten this far," Syaoran said quietly.  
  
"Very well, you have passed the test," Shing said.  
  
"Now what?" Syaoran breathed deeply in relief.  
  
Shing produced a new potion. "Drink this."  
  
Syaoran laughed and said, "Ha! I'm not touching that thing! Who knows what it will do to me!"  
  
"This will bring you back to the world where Sakura is dead," Shing said, flatly.  
  
Syaoran grabbed the bottle out of Shing's hands. Before he drank it though he asked, "Why did you give me so many clues?"  
  
"Huh?"   
  
"The movie? 'Flowers for my Girl'? Without it, I wouldn't have figured it out. And the "Are you nervous thing?" thing, it confirmed my suspicions."  
  
Shing laughed. "The movie was something that the back of your sub conscious made up. I had nothing to do with it. That surprised me though. That drink was suppose to make you forget everything. But somehow you produced those images… the funny thing is that you couldn't believe your own thoughts. You fell asleep in the movie, that was pretty sad… And as for the "Are you nervous?" question, I only gave you the original answer that I said before. You asked about the sunglasses and that's how I replied. It was only fair that I say the same answer when you asked again."  
  
Syaoran smiled and said, "Thanks."  
  
"Nothing to thank me for, now drink!" Shing said imaparitively.  
  
Syaoran thought, 'So, my own mind came up with that movie? That's kind of cool… In the future, this would make a great movie…' Syaoran tipped his head and drank the contents of the bottle.  
  
He once again fell to the ground, and slept soundly.  
  
A/N- Whewwwwwwww… that took a long time to write! This is the longest chapter yet, yay! I think it turned ok, right? The movie? LoL, I couldn't help myself… I had to name it what I named the story, it fit too well. And I don't know what I picked a movie. I didn't know what else to do -___-. It fit though^_^. Please review! After all, all those reviews is what got this chapter out! I was so amazed! 11 reviews!! I almost started skipping in the house! Lol… So, I gotta say… Do ya love it? Hate it? I'm almost done w/ this story! Yay! Bye! 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N- Before I start, I owe everyone an apology. This story took a long time to update (along with all my other stories). Today I opened up my e-mail box to find that as the days go by more and more people are subscribing to my notifylist, so I thought that I better finish this. This story WILL be completed! Sorry if this chapter is a little weird, I had ta reread everything before I began! Enjoy! And please review, it makes my spirits raise! Onto the fifth test…  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Syaoran woke up feeling dizzy. 'I'm really going to have to stop drinking the mysterious potions that Shing hands me,' he thought, looking around. He was where he had fallen in the graveyard where Sakura's body lay. Syaoran felt footsteps coming from behind him.  
  
Shing walked out of nowhere and said smoothly, "Well done. You have almost completed your tests. There are only two left to go."  
  
"So there are six altogether? I was expecting more…"  
  
Shing nodded. "If you want more, I can come up with more… you were doing so well, I thought that it could be cut down. After all, the last two tests are going to be the hardest on you."  
  
Syaoran's arms flew up in insistence. "No no no! Six tests is plenty. Whatever you have planned, I'll get through them and Sakura will be alive. I've gone through so much already! I won't give up now." Syaoran realized that he had been starting to rant and stopped to say, "So… what about this next test?"  
  
"This test is a bit… different."  
  
Flipping his head to face Shing, Syaoran asked, "Different? How so?"  
  
"In your previous tests, you've encountered danger. Proving your strength by defeating a monster, climbing heights, overcoming yourself, becoming lost in your subconscious. In this test, I'm going to flash us back to when Sakura died. I want you to watch it and accept it."  
  
"Just accept it? That's it? Piece of cake!" Syaoran said, triumphantly.  
  
"It may seem easy, but I think that in the end it will be a lot harder to accept than you know," Shing said, a cruel smile forming around his lips.   
  
Syaoran tilted his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that you're trying to trick me."  
  
"Trick? No such thing!" Shing replied, a sly smile on his face.  
  
"Well then, I'm ready," Syaoran said with assurance in his voice.  
  
Shing nodded. With the nod the world seemed to spin around Syaoran and Shing, but they stood still with ease. After a few seconds, everything returned to normal, and Syaoran and Shing were back in the graveyard.  
  
"What's this, some kind of joke? We spin around in circles and see if it makes me feel sick?" Syaoran demanded.  
  
"Doesn't anything feel different to you?"  
  
"What are you talking abou---" Syaoran said before being cut off. He looked to the ground where Sakura's grave was suppose to be, only to find it gone! He muttered, "She isn't dead yet…"  
  
Shing smiled. "From that tone of voice, I think that you know what's going on. After all, this isn't some happy reunion…"  
  
Syaoran yelled, "You son of a bitch! You brought me back to watch her die! That's cruel!"  
  
"Aren't you the least bit curious? Do you know how she died?" Shing calmly replied.  
  
Syaoran glared at Shing, noticing how he had no choice. He made an attempt to redeem himself. "I know how Sakura died. She died because of the Light and Dark card. What else do I need to know?"  
  
Shing shook his head. "How can you be so assured of yourself? She died by the Light and the Dark card, but what does that tell you? You left her after elementary school, never to see her again. Many things changed; her feelings for you, her hopes and dreams, her magical ability, and so much more. Dying by those cards shouldn't have been as easy as it appeared."  
  
The lecture made Syaoran lower his head in shame. "I just don't want to see her die… it's hard enough knowing that it happened…"  
  
Shing laughed with an immense cruelity edging in his voice. He countered, "Don't be so afraid, this is in the past, just accept what happened and you'll be on the final test."  
  
Syaoran nodded and changed the subject. "Where's Kero?"   
  
"He's living in this flashback, so that's why he isn't here with us. And anyway, I told you that you couldn't have any help. If Kero assured to you that this was exactly what happened, you would have been swayed in your decision."  
  
"Are you telling me that you could be showing me a fake past, and as long as I believe it, I pass?" Syaoran asked, confused.  
  
"No, I'm showing you what really happened. After watching this you may feel like I'm tricking you, heck, you already feel like I'm tricking you. If Kero was here then things would be changed in the way you think."  
  
Syaoran gave a puzzled look. He said slowly, "I think I get it…"  
  
"Good, because we need to go to Sakura's house," Shing replied briskly.  
  
Syaoran's and Shing's transparent bodies began to lift into the sky.   
  
Syaoran yelled in midair, "WHAT?! Ahhhhhhh! What's the meaning of this?!"  
  
Shing smiled and said, "I thought you were over the fear of heights thing. The fastest way of travel is by flying there."  
  
"Isn't someone going to see us flying?" Syaoran asked.  
  
Shing shook his head again. "There are times when I think that you are incredibly stupid. We are transparent, and in reality we aren't really here. Sakura will not be able to see you, and neither will anyone else in this realm. We are here to watch, not to change the future."  
  
Ignoring the stupid comment, Syaoran answered in a simple, "Ok." They flew through the air and a magnificent speed, just like Shing had proposed. Syaoran tried to keep his eyes shut, but after realizing that he didn't know how he'd get there with his eyes closed, he opened them to find he was directly above Sakura's house.   
  
Shing and Syaoran began to lower themselves onto the ground. Shing waved for Syaoran to follow him as he walked through the shut front door. Syaoran nodded and followed. As he walked through the shut door, it slammed open and Touya walked through. Syaoran shook his head quickly to figure out what was going on.   
Standing next to him was a very solid Touya.   
  
"Remember that you're doing the chores when you get home! I gotta get going to my job!"  
  
"I know!" came a sweet voice from upstairs. "Bye Touya!"  
  
"Bye!" Touya answered. After saying goodbye to Sakura, Touya looked across from him to seemingly notice Syaoran standing next to him. "Wah?" Touya asked himself. He rubbed his eyes incredulously and looked again, to find that nothing was there. "I'm going crazy… I could have sworn I saw that Chinese gaki in front of me for a second," he whispered. He shrugged and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.   
  
Syaoran froze, and felt the door slam him in. He yelled at Shing, "What was that? I thought that no one could see me! And I FELT that door slam on me. Are you trying to deceive me or something?"  
  
Shing looked thoughtfully and the door, remembering how Touya saw Syaoran for a second before realizing it was an 'illusion.' He answered coolly, "I suppose that he used to see ghosts?"  
  
"Yes, but he forfeited them," Syaoran answered angrily. "You told me I'd doubt you, but when you say things that aren't true, how am I suppose to trust that what you say is correct?"  
  
"He forfeited those powers? Some things stick, I suppose. He thought he was going crazy, so it was obviously something temporary. Sheesh, don't get all crazy. As for the door, ignore it. It's just a door for goodness sakes. Don't you want to see Sakura?"  
  
'Just a door?' Syaoran thought. But then he remembered Sakura's voice a few seconds ago saying goodbye to her brother. That beautiful sounding teenager's voice that Syaoran had never heard in his life… he remembered her voice when she was younger like it was yesterday. But to hear that sound flow through his ears made him giddy.   
  
"I want to see her!" Syaoran exclaimed.   
  
"Then go and do it…" Shing stated, feeling like he shouldn't have to say such obvious things.  
  
Syaoran nodded. In eagerness, he ran up the stairs to her room. He reached for the door handle, but it went through his hand. 'Oh yeah, transparency. That sucks,' Syaoran thought. But before he walked through the door, he prepared himself for what he might see. He imagined a gorgeous Sakura, the girl of his dreams, the girl that he had missed out on all his life because he had gone to China. He imagined seeing a girl with the lively green eyes that he had envisioned looking into for years, those eyes that made him feel full of life.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Syaoran walked into the door. He couldn't control his gasp as he saw Sakura for the first time in years.  
  
  
A/N- Yes, I know. Another cliffhanger. Well, at least it's a partial cliffhanger. I'm trying to decide whether gasping after seeing Sakura is a good thing of not, LoL. So, what do ya think? I'm SO sorry that this took so long to write, but I'll let ya know now that I'm alive! I plan to finish this story pretty soon, I expect it to have about 2-3 more chapters and an epilogue. I have the ending set in my head, but this test seems a bit weird for me to write. Please forgive the late entrance on this chapter! Do review! If I get enough reviews, the next chapter will be out before this week is up! 


	11. Chapter 11

A/N- In all my updating madness... finally another chapter! Nothing much to say except that I'm almost done with this story! I made one big mistake in the past chapters. In the beginning I had said that Syaoran never told Sakura he loved her, and later I said he did… I want it to be that he never told her… sorry if this confuses anyone! Thank you for the comments! **hugs**   
  
Last chapter- Taking a deep breath, Syaoran walked into the door. He couldn't control his gasp as he saw Sakura for the first time in years.   
  
Flowers for My Girl- Chapter 11   
  
Syaoran had run through images in his head how Sakura would look. Each way he thought about it though, he always imagined that she would be incredibly beautiful with her stunning green eyes and a smile that lit up the world. What he saw in front of his eyes was something totally opposite.   
  
Sakura's shiny auburn hair had grown to be a lifeless brown. Her eyes and skin looked worn, as if she had grown into an old lady. No longer was there an aura around her of carefree happiness. All the life had disappeared from her.   
  
"What happened to her? She looks dead!" Syaoran cried out in horror, mostly to himself.   
  
By now Shing had gotten to the top of the stairs. "Look at what you did to her. You left her and seemingly forgot about her. No phone calls, no letters, she was in despair," Shing said with amusement.   
  
Syaoran shook his head and convinced himself that he wasn't the cause of her pain. "I would never be able to do that to her. I didn't think she even liked me. There was always Yuki… or Eriol… but I had no choice! I had to leave. I thought about her every day I was gone, dreaming of seeing her smiling face again."   
  
"Great person you are. You don't bother to visit her till she's dead."   
  
Syaoran glared at Shing. "Shut the hell up! You have no idea what you are talking about. Leave me alone!"   
  
Shing shrugged and replied, "If you want to watch this alone, by all means, I'll leave."   
  
Before Syaoran could reply, Shing was gone. 'It's better off without him here…' Syaoran thought to himself, not able to break his gaze off Sakura.   
  
She was sitting at her desk, staring into a mirror. She sighed and said to herself dejectedly, "I better get going. Tomoyo expects me to go with her to shop. Not that I feel like shopping…"   
  
Sakura rested her head on her desk. Suddenly, a drawer in her desk began to glow. She opened the drawer that contained the book to the Sakura Cards. Slowly taking the book out of her desk she opened it. Inside she saw two cards glowing. Sakura slowly took them out to find the Light and the Dark card.   
  
Syaoran yelled in panic at seeing the cards, "Don't Sakura! Put them back! Leave it alone! It'll kill you!" But then he remembered. Sakura couldn't hear him. He had to watch in agony as Sakura picked up the cards and died.   
  
But she didn't die. Sakura's body began to glow along with the cards, and she seemed to be in a trance.   
  
Syaoran ran up to Sakura and tried to pull the cards out of her hands. He had made her feel miserable, now he had to prevent her from dying again. It was no use. He was transparent; he was useless. Syaoran sighed. He knew all he had to do was accept Sakura's death, but it was hard. He didn't want to watch her suffer, he wanted to see her happy. In his mind, he had figured that the Light and Dark card just overpowered Sakura; that she couldn't fight them back, and died. But this was much worse; she was sad, and not fit for battle.   
  
Kero seemingly flew out of nowhere and saw Sakura glowing. Not knowing what was happening he yelled "Sakura! Sakura!"   
  
Sakura heard him and blinked, returning to her normal self.   
  
"What happened?!" Kero yelled.   
  
"Nothing…" Sakura replied. Kero hadn't seen the cards she was holding. Before he could notice them, she slipped them into her pocket. Then, as if switching characters, she smiled and said, "Where were you?"   
  
Syaoran took a step back, stunned. All of a sudden, the sad, depressed girl had transformed into something else. She was the cheerful girl he had always known, as genki as ever.   
  
"Out flying… I don't see the fresh air that much lately, you never take me anymore," Kero said, disappointed.   
  
"I'm sorry, Kero. Maybe tomorrow?" Sakura asked, sweetly.   
  
"Yaaaaaay! Thank you Sakura!" Kero said, hugging Sakura. "You're always so dependable, so happy… so wonderful!"   
  
A look of sadness overcame her face but she quickly replaced it with a smile. "I know," she said softly. "I need to get ready. Tomoyo expects me."   
  
Kero shrugged his small body and said, "Ok. I need some rest anyway. Have fun!"   
  
Sakura nodded and proceeded to walk through the door. She walked straight through the stunned Syaoran, and down the stairs.   
  
Syaoran stood with his feet planted to the floor. He was too shocked to think. It seemed as if there were two Sakuras. A happy one… and a sad one. 'Was she always like this?' he thought to himself.   
  
As he went to trail after Sakura he heard Kero mumble, "What is wrong with Sakura? Every day she has shadows of sadness that pass through her eyes, and thinks I don't notice. Today I come into the room to find her glowing! I'm going to have to ask her someday…"   
  
Syaoran shook his head as he left. "Someday is too late," he said. He had told himself he would visit Sakura someday, but someday never came and she died.   
  
Sakura began walking towards Tomoyo's house. Syaoran remembered the route to get there and followed her, never taking his eyes off her. She had turned back into the sulking, depressed Sakura, and her eyes stared at the ground as she kicked rocks to go to the house.   
  
Syaoran shook his head in confusion. What had become of Sakura? She was sad… then happy… then sad again. 'Girls, I just can't understand their logic!' he thought as he stood behind her.   
  
Suddenly, Sakura took an unexpected turn that led to an alley. Syaoran followed her and wondered where she was off to, if not to Tomoyo's.   
  
Sakura stopped halfway down the alley. She leaned up against the wall and sunk onto the ground. "Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran! You've been gone for years and yet your image tortures my mind!" she yelled to the openess around her.   
  
Syaoran stood frozen, emotion overcoming him. "Sakura?" he whispered.   
  
"I think of you all the time… stopping on random streets just to think. You never call, never write, damn you Li Syaoran!"   
  
Syaoran took a step back. 'So this is what Sakura had turned into. Full of rage, angry, and incredibly sad. I'm… so sorry… Sakura…'   
  
Syaoran walked over to Sakura and tried to hug her, to hold her, but he simply couldn't get a grip her; he passed right through her. He noticed that she was no longer the sweet and innocent Sakura he knew, but a bitter teenager because of him.   
  
Syaoran felt water come to his eyes, the invisible tears falling.   
  
"You've ruined me. I tried to like someone else, but the memories… I only see you Syaoran," Sakura said, her tears beginning to fall as well as she curled up into a ball.   
  
The cards began to glow again. In between her tears, she pulled out the cards.   
  
"No, Sakura! Please… no!!" Syaoran yelled, the tears uncontrollable. "I'll come back to you! I love you so much! Just don't leave me! Don't die! I'm so sorry… just… don't die!"   
  
Sakura stared at the cards in surprise. As her flowing tears touched the cards she began to glow. "What's going on? These cards always glow… what's happening?" Sakura asked herself.   
  
A voice began to protrude out of the cards. It was the Light and Dark cards, talking as one. "We are the strongest cards in your deck… and being connected to you, we feel your sorrow. Tell us about your pain…"   
  
Sakura's eyes glazed over and she began to talk in a trance. "I've acted happy for years, so happy… but in reality, it's all a joke. But no one sees through it, no one knows who I am."   
  
"Why are you sad, dear? Tell us your troubles."   
  
"I just… couldn't forget him," Sakura whispered.   
  
"Forget who?" the cards cooed.   
  
"Li Syaoran…"   
  
"Why can't you forget him?"   
  
Sakura said, "I don't know. He never said he liked me... but there's something about him. I feel like he forgot about me."   
  
"Maybe he did…"   
  
Syaoran cursed. "Damn it! Don't put thoughts in her head! Sakura! Snap out of it! Please… don't die!"   
  
"Maybe…" Sakura repeated.   
  
"We could erase your pain… you're sadness…" they said in unison.   
  
"Really?" Sakura asked, with the same glazed over expression.   
  
"Really, you just have to let us take away the spirit of your life."   
  
"Would that end my life?" Sakura asked.   
  
"Just this life. But you will be free from sorrow… free from… Li Syaoran."   
  
"Free from… Syaoran?" Sakura asked, as if she were in a drunken state.   
  
"Free from everything. No pain… no sorrow… doesn't it sound wonderful? It's the best thing for you. As the most powerful cards in the deck we thought we'd suggest it to you. Such overcoming sadness… all from that terrible boy who left you."   
  
"Terrible boy? He really is terrible…" Sakura said dreamily.   
  
"Yes… to make our mistress act that way… what an awful person he is. Do you hate him?"   
  
Syaoran yelled in panic in between tears, "Sakura! No! Sakura! Please hear me! I'll come back to you. I'm a terrible person cause I left you, but please… forgive me…"   
  
Shing appeared next to Syaoran. He clicked his tongue and said, "I've seen enough of you trying to talk to her. Don't you get it? You're supposed to WATCH!"   
  
Syaoran shook his head and said, "How can I watch someone I love die and not do anything?"   
  
"It's simple… just… watch. I don't understand your dilemma," Shing said slowly.   
  
Syaoran hung his head and decided to follow Shing's words. He stopped his tears and watched.   
  
Sakura repeated, "Terrible person… hate… terrible people…"   
  
"You hate him? Let us rid you of your sorrows… make you forget Syaoran."   
  
"Hate… Syaoran…" Sakura said.   
  
The two cards began to shimmer beyond their original glow. Out of the cards came beams of light. The beams of light began to envelop the dazed Sakura.   
  
"Hate… Syaoran…" Sakura repeated over and over.   
  
Finally Syaoran could know longer watch. He ran up to Sakura and attempted to hold her in his arms. She passed through him, like always.   
  
The beams of light kept flowing through her, encompassing her body in energy from the cards. Her raw magic and energy starting pulling out of her body, draining away her life.   
  
Syaoran kept trying to hold her as she repeated her chant of hating Syaoran over and over again. Syaoran was trying to hold back the tears; he was supposed to be strong. 'Be strong, don't cry…' Syaoran thought to himself. But he couldn't help himself, and a tear fell down his cheek.   
  
Syaoran made one last attempt to hold Sakura. Miraculously, Syaoran got a hold of Sakura. His surprise didn't overrule his feelings though, because he was too concerned about Sakura.   
  
"Sakura? Sakura?" Syaoran asked.   
  
"Hate… Syaoran…" Sakura replied.   
  
"Please listen, Sakura. I'm coming to save you! Save you from wherever you go. I'm so sorry… please…" Syaoran begged.   
  
Sakura's eyes flashed and returned to normal. Syaoran smiled in hope and said, "Sakura! You're ok! You're…"   
  
But he was but off by Sakura's cold glare. "Syaoran? I hate you, Li Syaoran."   
  
Syaoran blinked in confusion. Before he could respond, the last beam of light passed through her body and she became lifeless in his arms. The cards stopped glowing and returned to their inert state as if nothing happened.   
  
Syaoran held onto Sakura for a few moments before setting her on the ground. He was once again transparent.   
  
Shing smirked and said, "You shouldn't have gotten involved. You should have just watched. I told you."   
  
"Does she hate still hate me? Wherever she is… does she hate me?" Syaoran asked sadly.   
  
"She told you herself that she did. You know, you've gotten what you deserved for not following my instructions," Shing said. "But it was amusing to watch."   
  
Syaoran couldn't take Shing's attitude anymore. He yelled, "Have you no heart?! You put me through this and then you tell me it's my own fault. I KNOW THAT! She hates me! HATES me!"   
  
Shing smiled. "Do you accept what you have seen and are ready to move on?"   
  
Syaoran dropped to the ground and whimpered, "She hates me… how can I move on when she is probably happier where she is? Happier in nothingness than knowing I'm around. How can I save her when she probably doesn't want to be saved by 'terrible' me?"   
  
"Very well…" Shing said. "You don't want to move onto the last test."   
  
Syaoran grabbed rocks on the floor and tightened them with his fists. "I just don't know what to do…" he said sadly.   
  
A/N- Waaaaaaaah, this chapter kinda made me sad. What do you think? I didn't think Sakura would swear, cause she's too...Sakura, but *shrugs*, people change as they get older. Truthfully, when I started this chapter I had no idea where it would lead me. I didn't know how Sakura was going to die… so I just wrote. It seems kinda sudden for me so I don't know what to think about it, sorry if you don't like it… there's still a few more chapters in the future so don't get mad yet! Happy Holidays, please review **consider it a late Christmas present**! Thanks for your thoughts, bye bye! 


	12. Chapter 12

"Very well…" Shing said. "You don't want to move onto the last test."   
  
Syaoran grabbed rocks on the floor and tightened them with his fists. "I just don't know what to do…" he said sadly.  
  
  
Flowers for My Girl- Chapter 12  
  
Shing paused to let a little time pass by. After a few minutes of silence he looked at the heartless Syaoran and said, "Well? It's good you're taking this all in, but you don't have forever to decide if you want to go on."  
  
Syaoran set his hands on the ground below him and slowly lifted himself to his feet. Though no tears were in his eyes, his body was like a limp puppet for it seemed that he had no life left in him. "I… I… didn't mean for things to be like this…" Syaoran said, stammering his words.  
  
"Of course you didn't. You couldn't really predict the way that these tests would go," Shing commented wistfully.  
  
"That's not what I meant," Syaoran replied.  
  
"I know."  
  
"I thought of her everyday. If I had known that she would end up like this I would have… I would have…"  
  
Shing sighed impatiently. "You would have what? Gone back to her? No one is perfect, you made a mistake and from what I can tell, she wasn't that perfect either."  
  
Syaoran yelled, "She was perfect to me!"  
  
"So you'll continue to try and bring her back to life?"   
  
"Does she want to be saved?" Syaoran asked quietly.  
  
"Saved? Do you really consider yourself to be saving her? I don't know what she wants, but from what I saw it looks like she wants to be left alone. I'll leave you alone for a bit to decide what you want to do," Shing replied coldly.  
  
"Wait!" Syaoran called.  
  
"What is it?" Shing asked.  
  
"I have one more question. The cards… did they influence the way she thought?"   
  
Shing sighed. "That's up what you think. I can't fully tell you right now. The Light and the Dark card, eh? It would seem to be that they would act pretty impartial about matters considering that light and dark cancel each other out. Other than that, all I can say is that they care for their mistress, right?"  
  
Syaoran nodded to take it all in.   
  
"Like I said, I'll leave you to your thoughts." Shing said. "Just remember the main rule to the test: You forfeit the right to the tests if you leave the graveyard. Also remember what I told you before your very first test… Call me when you have fully decided."   
  
And then he was gone. Syaoran looked up. Where Sakura's death had taken place in front of his very eyes had turned into part of the cemetery. Syaoran took a deep breath and realized where he was standing. Syaoran read the words carefully on the stone in front of him.  
  
"Sakura Kinomoto  
  
beloved daughter, sister, and friend  
  
1985-2001"  
  
He repeated the words in his mind as he knelt on the packed dirt beneath him. He saw the four roses he had left on the day of the funeral, which now looked as dead as he felt.   
  
'I don't see how things could change so rapidly,' Syaoran thought. Memories flooded his thoughts. He saw in his mind when Sakura caught the various cards, starting from an untrained weakling and growing into a strong sorceress.   
  
He also felt the different emotions overcoming his heart from the past. First there was the anger mixed with annoyance, onto cooperation and friendship, and finally love. Syaoran dwelled on the 'love'.  
  
Every glance, every look, every smile made his heart jump. And now it was over. There would be no more smiles, no more sweet glimpses.  
  
Syaoran sighed for what felt like the millionth time during the day. Then he remembered what Shing had said before he left. He had told him to remember what he had said before the very first test. Syaoran thought of what Shing could have possibly meant before the words struck him like a punch to the heart.  
  
"Always remember who you're fighting for. The life of you're loved one. Also remember that if you lose, then that person is lost forever in the between. You will be lost too. Life is beautiful, if there is something that you should treasure, it is life. Never give up and believe in the powers in you. Use your mind because without it you will get nowhere."  
  
Syaoran smiled and shook his head. 'Honestly, I don't know if he's a bad guy or a good guy. Sometimes he helps me, and yet sometimes he's discourages me.'  
  
But remembering that, he remembered what he had to do. He had to remember who he was fighting for: Sakura, his beloved. Sure, Sakura was lost in a realm of nothingness, she wouldn't be feeling pain where she was, but what was life or death with nothing? Shing had said it with his own mouth; life is beautiful.   
  
Syaoran smiled for the first time in hours and said out loud, "Shing! Come back! I have decided to continue with the last test! I WILL bring Sakura back, I told myself that before I started my journey, and I will hold myself to that promise!"  
  
"Very well," Shing replied. It was as if he had never left. "What made you decide?"  
  
Syaoran said confidently, "A few things actually. The main one was your advice. In the midst of finding out Sakura's feelings, I forgot what my goal was. I forgot that I was fighting for HER, that my purpose was to bring her back."   
  
Shing eerily smiled and said, "Good, anything else?"  
  
"She may hate me, but I still love her. I can not forget her no matter what happens. I want Sakura to return to this world, even if she is full of bitterness. People love her, and as long as she is loved I will make sure that she is here to accept that love."  
  
Shing nodded. "You're not as stupid as I thought you were. You seem to have grown intellectually since these tests began."  
  
Syaoran nodded and smiled triumphantly, before realizing that he had just been called stupid. He glared at Shing before saying, "I would be mad, but even if you try to make me doubt myself, you seem to be helping me more than anything else."  
  
Shing smiled mysteriously and changed the topic. "I take it that you decided that the cards aren't evil, Sakura hates you?"  
  
Syaoran sighed, "I don't know what to think about it. But like I said, even if Sakura hates me, I will bring her back. I have yet to truly apologize and tell her how I feel."  
  
With a slight nod Shing replied, "You really have grown through these tests. It doesn't matter what Sakura thinks, she is one lucky girl if you go through with this last test."  
  
A/N- Ok, so there's less action. Syaoran's gonna finish! Yay! (of course, how could you doubt him?!) *winks* This last test is really cool though, I've had it in my mind before I even had the story planned. I'm so excited! Thanks for everyone who has read this story so far and being so supportive!^_^ **hugs** 


	13. Chapter 13 Last test

Flowers for My Girl- Chapter 13   
  
Shing put his hand on Syaoran's shoulder and said, "I'll tell you this upfront. This test will be the hardest. Being this is the last one, you can change your mind any time and quit without any consequences."   
  
"Didn't you hear all the things I told you? I WILL bring Sakura back, and I refuse to think otherwise," Syaoran said firmly.   
  
"I know, but I owe it to you to tell you," Shing replied quietly. "Let's begin."   
  
Without another comment Shing snapped his fingers. Syaoran's world began to spin as he felt dimensions shift under his feet. A wave of dizziness overcame him as he dropped to his knees and gripped his head in pain. Shing stood silently above him, seemingly unaffected.   
  
After a few moments, the spinning stopped. Syaoran regained control of the space around him. He found himself on a cold, cement floor. He firmly set his feet on the ground and lifted himself up to see where he was. The air was chilly and there was no light for him to see.   
  
Shing said darkly, "We are here."   
  
Syaoran cried out in an annoyed tone, "Why can't you tell me when we are going to do things like that! Where are we?"   
  
As if by magic, candles began to light themselves. They came from all areas around Syaoran, dimming the room with a dark beauty.   
  
To his amazement, 'here' was a small compact room with walls made out of the same kind of cement as the floor. There was no door, no windows, no way for Syaoran to figure out how he got into the room and no way to get out.   
  
Syaoran turned to Shing and asked, "What's this about?"   
  
"It's a small preview of nothingness."   
  
"Nothingness?"   
  
"This place represents the nothingness that people feel when they are killed by magic."   
  
Syaoran gave Shing a confused look. "This is just an ordinary room. What causes them to feel nothing? Surely being locked away in a place like this, they'd feel anger or sadness or pain. What's special about this place?"   
  
Shing sighed and said slowly, as if trying to find the right words to say, "It's not that their body is in the room. It's more complex than you think. When killed by magic, the magic simply turns the person into… nothing. Therefore, it doesn't really matter what the scenery around the person, they'll be stuck in their own soul."   
  
"I don't really understand what you mean," Syaoran replied.   
  
"It's kind of like a mental person who is so lost in their own thoughts that they don't understand what is going on around them. They take no notice of other people, of other actions. Their own mind is consumed without thoughts, so it's like they don't even know that they exist. Such is the person that you are about to see…" Shing said.   
  
"Huh?" Syaoran asked. He was trying to take in all that Shing was saying, but it didn't make any sense to him. Then he noticed a figure huddled in the corner of the room.   
  
The person was covered with a heavy cloak. The bodily figure was of a girl with a petite build. Her head was tucked into the folds of the cloak. Out of the mass of the curled up person, Syaoran saw familiar locks auburn hair that made him gasp.   
  
"Sakura?" he croaked.   
  
There was no response. "Sakura?" he tried again, barely finding his voice beneath the shock that he was feeling.   
  
Shing shook his head and said, "I guess you don't really know what I mean."   
  
Syaoran ignored Shing and walked slowly towards the hidden person within the cloak. Prying away the folds of the big cloth he saw the definite figure of Sakura with her eyes closed and her face at peace.   
  
"Sakura?" he tried again, his voice regaining confidence.   
  
Shing cried out annoyed, "Damn it! She CAN'T hear you! She…"   
  
He was cut off by the look he saw on Syaoran's face. His confident, self-assured face had been replaced with a confused, helpless look.   
  
"She doesn't even know you're here," Shing finished softly.   
  
Syaoran asked, just as quietly, "Why is she here?"   
  
Shing responded truthfully, "She was specifically brought out for this test. Until the test is finished, Sakura will be returned to the living state. Her mind will be as functional as her last thoughts were and you may speak with her."   
  
Syaoran smiled at Shing and said, "Thank you."   
  
Syaoran looked down at Sakura's peaceful face. He watched in slow motion as her eyes opened to reveal clouded, angry emerald eyes. Sakura's body fully came to life. She raised her arm and swiftly pushed Syaoran away from her as she sat up to find out where she was.   
  
The blow from Sakura's arm wasn't very forceful, but the regret in Syaoran's heart caused the push to set his body meters away. He lowered his head and said once again, "Sakura?"   
  
"Where am I?" she said, no emotion in her voice. "What are you doing here, Li?"   
  
'Li… Li…' the word echoed in his mind as his eyes flashed when he raised his head to meet Sakura's eyes. 'For some reason, I was still expecting her to be the little girl I remember. I knew she hated me, but if she saw me… I thought she'd change her mind.'   
  
Syaoran said softly, "You died… and I came back for you."   
  
In the same monotone Sakura replied, "You're a little late to be coming back to see me."   
  
Syaoran looked at her in a mix of sadness and despair. "I… know… I came to save you. I want to bring you back to the world of the living."   
  
"Do you think that everything will end happily because you came to get me out of your own guilt? Is that what you think? What if I don't want to go back?" Sakura replied cruely.   
  
Syaoran ignored her questions. "I know you hate me… but Sakura, I love you! I never told you and I ran away from my own feelings, but all this time! I've loved you more than anything else! I don't care if you don't want to go back! I want you to live in a world of happiness, in a world where people love you, regardless of what you think!"   
  
"I remember my dying moments," Sakura said softly. "I remember seeing your face in my mind and thinking, 'I hate you, Syaoran.' Did you know that?"   
  
Noting her harsh tone Syaoran replied, "I know. I saw it before my own eyes. I…"   
  
Sakura interrupted, "Not one phone call! Not even a letter! And you say people love me? How come they couldn't realize how I felt?!"   
  
"They did realize! They just didn't know how to respond or what to do. People hoped you would get over your sufferings and move on."   
  
"You say they didn't know what to do or say to me? Is that the way it was for you when you left for China?"   
  
Syaoran said softly, "Sakura… we were children then. I didn't know how to handle situations or even what my feelings were."   
  
"And that's your excuse?" Sakura asked bitterly.   
  
Syaoran paused. He didn't know what he could say to get through to her. He sighed and said, "I suppose there is nothing left for me to say. I was hoping that the Light and Dark card were influencing the way you thought, but it seems that your hatred for me was caused by your own emotions."   
  
Sakura looked at him, her unemotional eyes staring him down.   
  
Syaoran sighed and said without breaking their gaze, "Shing, I am ready for the test. I have told Sakura what I wanted to tell her. If she does not accept my apology, then that's the way it will have to be."   
  
Looking away from Sakura, Syaoran slowly stood up. He turned around to face Shing.   
  
Shing nodded thoughtfully and said, "It's tragic how things will end. The test is about to being. There's not much you can do now Syaoran."   
  
"Huh?" Syaoran asked.   
  
Suddenly the walls shook and two ropes, each on opposite sides of Syaoran ripped through the walls. Syaoran panicked and tried to figure out the scenario.   
  
Connected to the walls, the ropes seemed to have a life of their own. They flew towards Syaoran. He dodged the ropes a few times using his graceful martial art skills but they eventually grabbed his wrists and lifted his body off the ground to render him helpless.   
  
Syaoran fought to free himself from the gripping ropes, but it was useless. "What's going on?" Syaoran asked angrily. "How am I supposed to defend myself in this test if I'm tied to a wall and can't move?"   
  
Shing shook his head and said, "You don't have to move. I'll explain this to in a second. First let me say something to Sakura."   
  
Sakura looked at him with confusing eyes. "Who are you?" she asked.   
  
Shing laughed his raspy laugh and said, "That's pretty much the first thing Syaoran asked me. You two seem alike in many ways. Sadness consuming both your hearts, and you seem to have the same stubbornness that he does…"   
  
Sakura shook her head and replied, "We aren't alike. When we were 'children' like Syaoran says, we'd do things like that but things are different now. He couldn't possibly know the sadness I felt when he left."   
  
Shing sighed and said, "Obviously, you aren't seeing this two ways. Syaoran fought a monster and got injured just so that you would be brought back. He beat his own evil twin at thinking, and he overcame his fears and basically blew off his fiancé."   
  
Sakura smiled for the first time since she had awoken and said sarcastically, "And what feelings did he experience while he did this? Regret?"   
  
Syaoran couldn't stand just listening to the conversation. He called out, "It was more than regret!"   
  
"Then what was it? Did you just want your own personal happiness?"   
  
Shing said quickly before Syaoran could respond, "It had to be more than that. His next test was to overcome his own happiness. In his mind he was happy. He could have lived the rest of his life in eternal bliss if he chose to stay in that test, just so he could be with you."   
  
Sakura's eyes widened. Her emerald eyes began to gleam with a bright light as a mist appeared. The mist slowly left her eyes unclouded. She softened and said, "He gave up happiness in his own mind to free me?"   
  
Shing turned his back on Syaoran and said, "I don't know if I made things better or worse but I have done what I needed to do."   
  
Syaoran gave him a look of confusion. "I've been lost the entire time you were talking. What did you need to do?"   
  
Shing replied, "For the last time, look into Sakura's eyes. Look into them and tell me what you see."   
  
Syaoran nodded slowly before saying, "For the last time?"   
  
"Just do it!" Shing said, a remorseful sound in his voice.   
  
Syaoran raised his head to meet Sakura's eyes. Her eyes were wide with surprise and her face sparkled with the same innocence he had seen when they were young.   
  
"Sakura?" Syaoran asked.   
  
"Syaoran?"   
  
Syaoran smiled. He turned to Shing and asked happily, "What did you do? What happened? She… changed."   
  
"I just unclouded her eyes from what the Sakura cards did. If you are going to complete this test, it's the least I can do for both of you."   
  
"Does that mean the Light and Dark cards really did influence her thinking?"   
  
"Not fully. I'm sure that behind that 'happy' Sakura you see, there are still those strong emotions of anger that she was showing you. She didn't lie when she told you her feelings. The cards helped her decide through their magic what she should do."   
  
Sakura listened patiently, not fully realize what was happening. Syaoran looked at her and asked Shing, "So they are evil?"   
  
"No. They are the Light and Dark card which means that they are relatively neutral," Shing said shortly.   
  
"Then how…?"   
  
Shing finished his thoughts. "They only wanted her to be where she would feel at peace. Though Sakura's mind is unclouded right now as it was back then, she still felt those feelings of sadness and anger. The cards felt those emotions and they felt as hurt as she did. Therefore, they offered her peace of mind so she could be in this nothingness. With her feeling nothing, they would feel nothing also. Nothing is better then sadness, right?"   
  
"Then why did they make her hate so intense?" Syaoran asked.   
  
"Building off her own emotions, I suppose. It was convenient for both of them and made it easier for them to work their magic on her."   
  
Syaoran nodded and said, "It's good to know, but why are you telling me? How did you know such information? Aren't you trying to make me fail these tests?"   
  
"I've always known the information. It's not that I wanted you to fail. I just wanted to make sure that you were worthy of bringing Sakura back to death. Bringing people back from the dead isn't an ordinary task. I figured I'd attempt to make Sakura and you on good terms before this test."   
  
"Which is?" Syaoran asked, his wrists beginning to get red rings from the rope burning into his skin.   
  
Shing turned to Sakura, who was taking in all the information. He told her, "Syaoran had to watch you die, that was his previous test. He listened to you tell him that you hated him. As you died in his test, he attempted to hold you until you finally said, "I hate you." Now, in the same manner, you will watch him die for you."   
  
Syaoran and Sakura gasped simultaneously. Tears began to fill Sakura's eyes.   
  
Syaoran nodded and said slowly, "I get it. You never planned for me to complete these tests."   
  
"Not quite. You see, I'd like to see you happy with Sakura, but that's not the way things work. Sakura died by magic. You must die and fill in her empty spot. It's a life for a life sort of deal," Shing said, a touch of sadness filled in his hoarse voice. "Remember, you can always turn back. That's what I meant when I told you this would be the hardest test. Will you accept your death or will you turn back? It's up to you, but either way, only one of you will be returning to Toemoda."   
  
Sakura cried out, "No!! Don't do it Syaoran! I'm fine with the nothingness that I'm in. It's not worth it!"   
  
Syaoran sighed and said, "For you to be happy again, I will do it. I accept this death."   
  
"Syaoran, no!" Sakura attempted. "You saw what I was like when I wasn't with you! That wasn't happiness. If you're not there with me, I won't be happy."   
  
Shing raised his eyebrows and said, "That's right. It seems as if Sakura's happiness comes directly from you. You die; she dies emotionally. There is just no way to end this circle of emotions."   
  
"I can't leave Sakura down here. She didn't deserve to die. My foolishness caused her to die and I want to undo that. Sakura, there are plenty of people that love you. Touya loves you, your father loves you, Tomoyo, and Kero… they all care for you! Find happiness for both you and me," Syaoran said firmly.   
  
Shing nodded and said, "You two are both very stubborn people."   
  
Sakura began crying. Her crystal tears began to flow endlessly down her cheeks. "You don't have to prove yourself, Syaoran. Don't die!"   
  
"You have decided," Shing said. From out of nowhere Shing pulled out Syaoran's sword.   
  
"My sword?" Syaoran asked.   
  
Shing nodded and said, "I took it from you before your second test. Now I will return it to you. The ropes will steady your body as I impale the sword through your body. Being as your sword carries magical powers, you will be considered to have died from magic and you can rightfully take Sakura's place."   
  
Syaoran sighed and said steadily, "If that's the way it's going to be, then so be it."   
  
Sakura's sobs were getting louder. Her cries were resonating the room. "No… no… please no…" she said between breaths for air.   
  
"Yell for me to stop if you change your mind. If the pain is too unbearable for you and you decide you can't go through with this test then just say so and you'll return to Sakura's gravestone as if the tests never happened," Shing told him quietly.   
  
Syaoran processed the information and said, "Ok, but I won't be changing my mind."   
  
Shing prepped the sword in front of Syaoran's hanging body. "Any last words?" he asked.   
  
Syaoran smiled and said, "I love you, Sakura."   
  
As he finished the word 'Sakura' he felt the pain of his sword being plunged into his heart.   
  
A/N- Only one chapter left (and maybe an epilogue)! I feel I've become a bit too wordy but *shrugs* hopefully it's not too bad. I don't have much to say... it's taken a funky twist, ne? I hope everyone sticks in till the end to read this fic! *hugs everyone* Well, thanks to all readers^_^ Since I have nothing intelligient to say... bye bye! 


	14. Chapter 14 Last chapter! dances in circl...

A/N- **drum roll** Now for the last chapter! The moment you've all been waiting for! Er… maybe the moment… -_______-;;.   
  
Disclaimer: I haven't put one of these up for a while cause I keep forgetting… but here it is! I don't own CCS or it's characters! **owns Shing** He's enough for me to own… ^_^  
  
Flowers for My Girl- Chapter 14  
  
Syaoran wanted to yell, 'Stop! I can't bear the pain! I give up!' Instead he closed his eyes and forced memories of when he was in grade school. His whole mind was consumed with Sakura's beaming face. That image was enough to prevent him from failing the test. 'I'm doing this for Sakura. Even though I die, she'll eventually be happy again.'   
  
A white light flashed through his mind. There was no longer any pain or feeling. He looked around to see a white field of nothingness around him. "Am I dead… wait, Who am I?"  
  
A voice told him, "You aren't dead. Almost dead… but not quite."  
  
Syaoran snapped his head to find where the voice came from. In front of him he saw a mysterious white-cloaked figure. His features where unidentifiable and Syaoran squinted his eyes to see who it was, but failed to figure it out.   
  
"Who are you?"   
  
"Your inner conscience. I've never been so impressed with the way you handled yourself. You have proven to be a strong person at heart and in mind."  
  
"My inner conscience? Since when do I have one of those? What's going on?" Syaoran asked, totally unaware of what had happened.  
  
"I've always been there, you just don't realize it. I'm basically just a figment in your heart that makes you feel certain ways."  
  
"Feel certain ways?"  
  
"Maybe you can't remember those feelings at the moment. Do you know why you are here?"  
  
Syaoran raised his eyebrows and said, "I don't even know what here is."  
  
The man in the white cloak emitted a sigh. "I've got a story for you. Care to hear?"  
  
Syaoran gave him a blank look.  
  
"Fine then. I'll begin without you saying anything.   
  
There was once an angry young boy from China. On a quest to retrieve magic he went to Japan. In Japan he met a young girl about his age who was searching for cards of magic, the same thing the boy was looking for. The boy was angered that this young girl would get in his way. At first the boy acted was very mean towards the girl, but over months this girl gave him support in hard times and he couldn't help but aid her to catch the magic cards. He fell in love with her. The young girl had fallen in love with him too but the boy didn't know. They never said anything to each other about their feelings. After the girl was done catching the cards the boy went back to China, feeling a shadow of sadness in his heart for never telling the girl how he felt.  
  
A few years later the girl died. In great sorrow the boy returned to Japan for her funeral. Not being able to accept her death he found a spell to bring her back to life by going through a series of tests. Each test tested his different abilities and played on his emotions. Through one of his tests he found out a shocking truth that the girl he loved hated him for leaving. He kept going through the tests though he was shaken with guilt and sadness. He was determined to bring her back. In the final test he accepted taking the girls spot in death so she return to life. In the last moments the girl realized her love for the boy and her hatred was shattered, but being as he would die in her place, there was nothing that she could do but watch and cry…"  
  
Syaoran blinked and suddenly felt a pang in his heart. "What was that? That… thing… that went through me?"  
  
"That was an emotion. Think hard Syaoran, try to feel it again."  
  
Syaoran closed his eyes. Suddenly, the face of a girl flashed into his mind. He breathed in heavily as he felt something stab his heart. It wasn't something that hurt him, but a dull pain of longing that he couldn't control.   
  
"Huh!" Syaoran gasped. "What's going on? Suddenly… there's just something in me that I can't express in words. This… this…"  
  
The hooded figure laughed. "Feeling of love? Return to Sakura. You don't want to see the girl you love crying because of these silly tests."  
  
Syaoran looked at the cloaked man. Syaoran looked really hard again to see who was talking to him and found a teenager hidden within the cloak, with the same chestnut hair and brown eyes that he had. The boy disappeared as Syaoran felt every wave of emotion he had ever experienced enter his body.   
  
Without realizing what was happening he started hearing sounds. He closed his eyes and tried to become more acute to the sounds around him.  
  
First he heard a quiet sob coming from Sakura. Then he heard a quiet voice say, "Hm, that boy is incredibly strong. He passed the test…"  
  
Syaoran slowly opened his eyes to find Shing and Sakura before him. As his senses began to fully come back to his body he asked groggily, "What's going on?"  
  
Sakura looked at Syaoran, her tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes. She smiled and cried out, "You didn't die!"   
  
Shing smiled fully for the first time that Syaoran had ever seen and said, "The test worked. You passed it…"   
  
Syaoran snapped awake. He felt the ropes slip off his hands as he fell to the ground. In confusion Syaoran asked, "What? I thought I had to die to pass the test to take Sakura's spot. You said so yourself!"  
  
"I lied," Shing said, smirking.  
  
Sakura blinked away her tears and asked Shing, "Why did you lie? I thought you were helping us…"  
  
Shing slyly smiled as Syaoran glared at him. He proceeded to explain to them what had happened. "This test was never about Syaoran dying. It was about him accepting that he would die for Sakura. By saying he would willingly die and dealing with the momentarily pain he proved that he would do ANYTHING for the one he loved. If you are complaining that Syaoran is alive…"  
  
Raising her arm, Sakura replied, "No! Of course I have no complaint! I was just heartbroken that Syaoran was about to die."  
  
Syaoran stood up and said dryly, "Shing, sometimes I don't know whether I should kill you or whether to thank you."  
  
Shing replied, "For some reason, I thought you'd be more happy to know that you've fully passed all tests. You can go back to Tomoeda, but I'm sure you'll have one heck of time explaining why Sakura isn't dead."  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened. The information didn't fully hit him until this moment. In his mind he heard the words 'You… passed… Sakura isn't dead.'   
  
Syaoran looked at Sakura, who had dancing stars in her eyes. She ran to Syaoran who opened his arms to her for a hug.  
  
"It's all over then?" Syaoran asked, holding Sakura close to him.  
  
"Yeah, I just said that. I don't suppose you noticed, but all your injuries are gone. That gash from your first test that you forgot about because you were so into your tests? Completely gone. It's too bad that you weren't cured of your slowness, I guess the brain damage was too much to heal." Shing replied in a mocking tone.  
  
Syaoran glared at Syaoran before he realized that someone was missing. "Where's Kero?"  
  
"After the test where you had to go to the past to watch Sakura die, he returned to the past to live out that life. He's probably in the book, mourning Sakura's death. It would be as if you never woke him up to give you the Light and the Dark card."  
  
Sakura gave a quizzical look. "That made… no sense…"   
  
Syaoran nodded. "I think I get it. Everyone still considers you to be dead. I had to wake up Kero before I came, but when we get back Kero will not know what had happened cause it will be like I was never there."  
  
Sakura sighed and replied slowly, "I guess I have a lot to catch up on because that still didn't make much sense."  
  
"When do we go back?"  
  
Shing shrugged. "You are free to leave whenever you want to. It sounded like you still had some questions for me though. Just tell me when you're ready."  
  
Syaoran brought his hand to his chin and wondered if he had any more questions. Then he realized there was one thing that he still didn't understand. Full of curiosity he asked, "How do you know so much? You are so mysterious; who do you serve?"  
  
Shing laughed his raspy laugh. "I know these things because it is my job to know…"  
  
Syaoran interrupted, "But what is your j-"  
  
"There are some things that you shouldn't know until you truly die."  
  
Sakura looked at the exasperated Syaoran and tried to explain. "Even when you die, I doubt you will understand. I'm still trying to figure out half of what this conversation is."  
  
Syaoran muttered to himself, "That's because even through death, you're pretty dense…"  
  
Shing smiled and said, "I'm so glad to have met people as strong as you too. It's time to go. Goodbye."  
  
Syaoran held onto Sakura's hand as the room disappeared in a swirl to be replaced by the graveyard in Tomoeda.   
  
Sakura left go of Syaoran's hand and grabbed her head. "That was awful. I don't think I've ever felt so dizzy."   
  
Syaoran smiled and wistfully moved the hair out of her face that had been caused by the change of dimensions. "You get used to it after a while," he replied, even though he felt a bit sick himself.  
  
After a few moments of somber silence the same question popped into both of their heads.   
  
"Where's Shing?" they said simultaneously.  
  
Syaoran and Sakura both turned their heads and made an attempt to find their host. After a brief search, they gave up.   
  
Syaoran sighed and said, "I suppose it's all for the best. I've passed the tests and have brought you back to life. If he's gone, then we don't need him for anything else."  
  
Sakura smiled and grabbed Syaoran's hand. "Then let's get out of this eerie place."  
  
Syaoran smiled, something he had rarely done his whole life. He let Sakura pull him out of the cemetery, but not before noticing two cards propped up against a blank gravestone and beside three dead flowers.  
  
He pulled Sakura back to the gravestone and pointed with his free hand at the blank piece of slab.   
  
"What are my cards doing there?" Sakura asked.  
  
"This is your gravestone. It had your name on it but it's disappeared. Makes sense I guess, you are no longer dead. As for the cards, I had to get them to begin my tests. They helped cause your death."  
  
Sakura paused before saying, "I'm sorry, Syao-"  
  
Syaoran shushed her. "Don't be. I'm the one who is sorry. I should have never left. I never knew that you'd feel so depressed. Even though you aren't mentioning it, I know you still feel some of that bitterness. Hopefully you will fully forgive me someday."  
  
Sakura picked up her cards and placed them in her pocket. Then she gave Syaoran a hug and said with tears in her eyes, "I've already forgiven you, don't you know that? I love you Syaoran!"  
  
"I love you too, Sakura. I'm so relieved I finally get to tell you."  
  
After their second reuniting embrace, they turned around and proceeded to the exit.   
  
"It's so strange," Syaoran said randomly. "When I was going through the last test, I met my subconscious. Even though I wasn't supposed to feel anything or know anything, I was retold the story of you and me and all my feelings burst through me. I've never experienced something so amazing. I suppose the nothingness I was in was nothing like you experienced though."  
  
Sakura replied, "I don't remember it. It's probably something that I'm not supposed to remember; everything is fuzzy. I remember waking up and seeing you over me. I felt such anger that those emotions of hate consumed me though…"   
  
Syaoran sighed and remained silent.   
  
As they walked more Sakura broke the silence and asked, "Didn't Shing say that everyone would still remember I was dead?"  
  
"He said that, but I don't know. He's one crazy person. Either way, we'll figure it out. You'll be with me…"  
  
Sakura smiled as they walked hand in hand towards their new future together. Syaoran smiled triumphantly and thought of all the things that they'd be able to catch up on and how happy things were ending.   
  
As he thought that he heard a voice enter his mind.  
  
"Life is beautiful, if there is something that you should treasure, it is life. Never give up and believe in the powers in you. Use your mind because without it you will get nowhere. Also remember to be patient. This isn't the end as you think, far from it. Enjoy your life with the one you love…"  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Syaoran saw a man dressed in a refined black tuxedo with his back turned. The man had his hands in his pocket and his head tilted as the wind passed through his wispy black hair. His footsteps carried him away in a distant abyss as he slowly disappeared before Syaoran's eyes.   
  
Syaoran looked at the area that Shing had disappeared through and thought, 'Thank you Shing.'  
  
Letting go of Sakura's hand and putting his arm around her petite shoulder they walked in silence as the departed through the gate of the cemetery, the gate that separated life and death.   
  
~Fin~  
  
  
A/N- Wheeeeeeew… I hope that was to everyone's satisfaction! I don't really like the last sentence, but I couldn't think of anything to add onto it without getting really complex. ^_^ Congrats to Sakura Li 2389 who guessed what was gonna happen **sweatdrops** I had planned it before I had started the fic… and yet someone guessed it so easily (I'm sure many people prolly figured it out hehe…)   
  
**hugs everyone** I'm so happy that you stuck with my story till the end! I'm kinda surprised… I've had this story for such a long time! Other than the thanks, I don't have much else to say! Look out for the next chapters of 'No More Sorrow' along with a new fanfiction! For all those authors out there, check out my site at www.geocities.com/sakurafans24 for a fanfiction contest that I'm holding! Thanks to everyone once again… I hope everyone liked it! Bye for now! 


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